An important concept to grasp when selecting and utilizing a health insurance plan is whether or not your health care providers are participants in your insurance company’s network. Understanding this concept could very well save you a significant amount of money on your medical expenses.

To begin, I’d like to quickly define what a network is. A network is a group of health care providers (primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, etc.) who are contracted with a particular insurance company. As a result of these providers being in network, the insured will receive “negotiated” rates for the services that are provided.

Read the full post on Understanding Your Network of Health Care Providers.