The last thing you need when having to deal with health insurance is an awful lot of paperwork
. Chances are that you used the health insurance care for an unpleasant reason such as sickness or an injury, so the last thing you want is to deal with an endless amount of forms, most of which will be returned by the place you originally sent it because something wasn't filled out to meet their satisfaction.
If you do decide to visit a doctor or hospital that is not within your health plan then you may need to bring in a medical form to them or to pay all of the bills upfront and then you must submit copies of those bills to your health insurance company for reimbursement. This can be a real hassle if you are unfamiliar with these forms.
It might be a real pain, but go through the insurance claim form line by line. It will take a while and you will likely reading a lot of fine print, but it will save you time and headaches in the long run. If you fail to fill out even the smallest bit of information, chances are you will get it sent right back to you with an area highlighted that tells you to fill everything out all over again.
Usually on the medical claim form their will be a place to fill in services and diagnosis. If you want to make sure that your bills get paid by the insurance company as quickly as possible it is recommended that you allow the doctor's office to fill in areas that pertain to diagnosis and treatment, symptoms, and such. Getting this information wrong can actually cause the insurance company to deny your claim especially if they request the medical records and this information is not the same.
Don't trust the doctor's office completely, though. Make sure everything meets your expectations and that all of the information and addresses are correct. Make copies of everything and save receipt of anything you pay out of pocket. Being sick is no fun, but it is a lot less stressful if you have all of your paperwork in order.