Health Insurance Network
What is a health insurance network?
A health insurance network is a group of doctors and other healthcare providers built by insurance companies to provide medical care for their members and help them save money.
When a healthcare provider or facility joins a health insurance network, they agree to take a lower amount for their services and care. Those who are a part of a health insurance network are then called in-network providers.
The health insurance network brings together a range of healthcare professionals from various specialties and facilities under one health plan. This then provides health plan members with a range of providers they can choose from that can meet their many needs.
Why are health insurance networks important for healthcare?
Health insurance networks are important when it comes to understanding coverage under the various types of healthcare insurance models. For example, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and exclusive provider organizations (EPOs) typically cover only the cost of care by healthcare providers included in their health insurance network.
For other health insurance plans, such as preferred provider organizations (PPOs) and point-of-service (POS) plans, members are not limited to in-network providers, but they do pay less when they choose a provider included in the health insurance network.