What is in- and out-of-network?

as any business professional knows you have to work your network in order to succeed the same can be said about your health care network but what exactly does in-network and out-of-network mean it boils down to this most health insurance carriers have agreements with specific health care providers or groups of health care providers to offer services to their members at a set rate those health care providers are referred to as in-network some insurance plans will require you to use in network

providers to get special rates for services if you use providers that are not part of the carrier's network that you're called out of network and you will usually have to pay more for their services in and out of network providers are usually associated with specific plan types such as PPOs and HMOs so as you're considering your insurance plans take a look at the carriers provider network and whether your preferred doctors are considered in-network you