Drug plans provide an important type of coverage for health insurance policy holders, and although they vary greatly from one insurance provider to the next, all drug plans have a few things in common. They allow an individual to find appropriate health care with quality medications while limiting costs. As name brand prescription drugs can cost $50 or more per pill, drug plans are an essential type of protection for all health insurance buyers. To get the best health insurance rates on drug plans, it's important to understand how drug plans work and how to get the most out of the add-on coverage.

Drug plans usually cover all of the costs of different types of medication, although most require the policy holder to pay a small co-payment. The co-payment deters prescription medicine abuse and keeps the insurance company's costs low, which in turn allows for lower health insurance rates for drug plans. Drug coverage is offered through most major health insurance companies and through government programs such as Medicare. Drug coverage does not cover non-medicinal treatments, and exclusions may limit the types of drugs covered under a certain plan.

It's no surprise that drug plans can be expensive, as prescription medication is one of the most significant costs in the health insurance industry. Most health care plans encourage the use of generic prescription medicines and may offer a lower co-pay on these drugs as an incentive to their policy holders. In some cases, there may be no co-pay whatsoever for generic medications. Depending on state law and other factors, some health insurance companies offer the same co-payments for both generic and prescription drugs. There's a good reason for lower-priced generics; they usually provide the exact same ingredients in the exact same amounts as their name-brand alternatives at a much lower cost. Health insurance companies recommend the generics, because name-brand drugs drive up their costs and lead to higher health insurance rates for their customers. This is why drug plans usually emphasize the use of generics–from the insurance company's perspective, they provide an obvious way to cut costs.

To get the most out of drug plans, policy holders should be sure to research several health insurance policies before buying. Reading about exclusions and co-payments is essential when picking a policy with drug coverage. Senior citizens should understand their rights for inexpensive medications through Medicare, and all policy holders should try to use generic medications whenever possible and whenever the ingredients in generic and name-brand drugs are identical. This helps to bring down the cost of health insurance and allows for better coverage for all policy holders.