Once you purchase your health insurance policy, the health insurance carriers will send you a large packet of information. Within that packet will include the medicine coverage. This will include what kinds of brand and generic medicine will be covered. There are some kinds that must be generic while others must be brand name. It's important to know what each one is so that you get the doctor to write the correct prescriptions.

When you are sick and the doctor writes you a prescription, the health insurance carriers will usually cover it for you. The question is to what percentage. Some will cover the entire amount while some will only cover a fraction of it. Doctors are unable to keep up with what medicine coverage is included with all of the insurance carriers, so sometimes it is up to you to know.

If you are unsure if your doctor wrote the right prescription for what you need, ask. Let him or her know that you are concerned about your insurance covering it and make sure that it is the correct one. They may have to change between the generic and the brand name, but it will be worth it when you find out what your co pay is at the pharmacy.

Medicare is a little different. There is Medigap insurance that will help you get the medicine coverage you need because otherwise it would be a complete out of pocket expense.

As health insurance is getting more expensive, carriers are getting creative in what they do and don't cover in order to make it more affordable for more people. As a result, their coverage on medicine is often much lower than what it used to be. You need to find out what their policies are before you sign a policy with a particular carrier. This way, you don't get any unexpected surprises when it comes time to filling a prescription that you get form your doctor.

Another possibility is to ask the doctor to make a note on the prescription for a generic substitution if possible. You can then ask your pharmacist to check out the price differences for you, since they have access to your insurance information. Depending on the pharmacy, they may actually be able to lower the payment for you, too, based upon funding that they receive.

Every health insurance carrier is different in what they do and do not cover, so you need to make sure that you are being proactive and find out. Brand names and generic prescriptions can make a dramatic difference in the price that you pay at the pharmacy.