Nothing is more confusing, and perhaps more terrifying, than a denial of a health insurance claim. Without payment by your insurance company, you could be facing huge, out-of-pocket expenses. You may end up asking yourself, "What is my insurance for, if it does not pay my doctor's bills?" While health insurance coverage is usually very broad and comprehensive, every consumer needs to know that health insurance does not cover everything that a doctor or hospital may do or prescribe. Below is a description of three things that are generally not covered by most health insurance plans.

Written into the language of every plan is wording that health insurance coverage will be limited to only those services that are medically necessary. In other words, elective procedures, such as most cosmetic surgeries, will be denied if you make an insurance claim. Want that non-benign freckle removed or some liposuction to flatten your stomach? Think again-your insurance company will probably deny your claim. The "medically necessary" limitation also applies to non-medical services provided during your hospital stays, such as telephone and cable television access in your room.

Another type of treatment that is routinely denied under most health care plans is psychiatric and behavioral services. Some plans offer very limited health insurance coverage for psychiatrist visits or substance abuse treatments; many other plans offer no coverage at all. If you have exceeded your limit for such treatments, of if you plan does not provide any kind of psychiatric coverage, your insurance claim will be denied, and you will be responsible on your own for the costs of these services.

A third thing usually not included in health insurance coverage is prescription drugs. For those of us who have health insurance and who have also have drug coverage, many will assume that drug costs are covered under our health plan. This is not the case, however. Most drug coverage is provided under a separate plan, or as a rider or "piggyback" plan to the actual health plan. In either case, it is the separate drug plan or rider that will pay for your prescription drugs, not your health insurance plan itself. The typical exception here is for drugs prescribed to you while you are in the hospital; these are generally covered as medically necessary services under your health insurance plan.

Before you actually get the denial notice of an insurance claim in the mail, take the time to learn more about the health insurance coverage under your specific plan. It will save you a lot of frustration if you know ahead of time whether a particular service of treatment will be covered.