Every type of insurance company has their own method of doing what they do. For certain types of coverage you have to see your primary care Doctor before you can go see any other doctors of any kind. Other kinds of health coverage allow you to go to most any other doctor or specialist of your own accord and will pay for it as long as that doctor is part of your list of providers .

An HMO is very specific about who you get care from and why. Everything other than emergencies has to go through your regular doctor first. They will or will not give you the referral that you need to have your care covered. The yes or no depends on the rules and regulations that were laid out and agreed upon by HMO administrator.

For people with open access type insurance it is a little different. Generally with a PPO you can go see any doctor on your list of providers and they will pay 80% of the cost. If you want to see someone that is not on the list you have to pay for 60% of the cost. Every plan has a book that gives you a list of what procedures are covered and what are not. For the most part elective procedures are not covered.

There are some differences between companies regarding eye care and dental care. Some will cover regular checkups for teeth with the routine cleanings and usually there is something basic for eye checks. If you want to have coverage for glasses and contacts then you might need to specifically ask for that.

Within PPO and HMO coverage there are different levels of coverage. You will get a higher premium and higher co pays if you have high option coverage. But this is a good option for people that anticipate the possibility of serious hospital stays. The high option pays more of hospital stays and that's a big thing because those can be ridiculously costly