Read what products and services are covered before you pay for them on your own. Take advantage of covered services, such as dental checkups and cleanings twice a year. You may find out that your health plan covers some of the costs for flu vaccines and other services.

Find out about student health insurance from your child's school or college, especially if your child plans to study abroad.

Find ways to pay for services not covered by your insurance plan.

If you don't, your coverage could be cancelled.

Sometimes claims are rejected by mistake. When this happens, you can usually clear up the mistake by calling or writing a letter to your insurance company. Keep copies of all bills, letters, and notes from phone calls. Put your policy and claim numbers on all letters or e-mails. Call your insurance company if you don't get an answer within a few weeks.

Find out how you learn about updates and changes in your health plan. Do you get notified by mail or by e-mail? Do you need to check the health plan's Web site? How do you add a new dependent to the plan? Also, find out when you can change the plan you have. Often, you can only do this during open enrollment.

Call your health insurance company before you have a medical service. Some services are only covered if the insurance company approves them first and/or if they are done at certain locations or by certain providers.

If both you and your spouse both have health insurance through work, choose the plan that works best. Decide if it is better to keep separate plans or if it would cost less for either of you to join the other's plan. Your employer may let you take cash or other benefits instead of health insurance. Keep the better policy if you can and “cash in” on the other one. Also, find out which policy covers your children better. Think about future needs, too. For prenatal and delivery costs to be covered, a woman may need to be a member of the plan for nine or more months before she gets pregnant.

Find out if your employer offers a Flexible Spending Account (FSA). This lets you set aside some money for medical expenses for the year. You could choose to set aside $1,000. This is usually taken out of your paycheck, but you don't pay federal income tax or Social Security tax on this money. But be careful how much you put into your FSA. You lose any money you don't spend on health care in the year. Look at last year's health care expenses for a ballpark figure on what you think you will likely spend. Don't count any money that is taken from your paycheck for insurance premiums. Do count deductibles, co-pays, and treatments your insurance doesn't cover.

If you are going to lose your health insurance, you are part of a growing trend in the U.S. Schedule doctor visits and other health care services before expenses will no longer be covered.