Insurance Basics: Choosing Your Healthcare Provider
Your plan may contract with doctors, dentists and other healthcare practitioners; hospitals; labs; radiology facilities; pharmacies and other types of providers. These are the providers in your “network”.
Health plans negotiate the price of medical services with certain doctors, hospitals, labs and other providers.
Anesthesia is used to block pain, relax you or control how awake you are. It is used during surgery or other complex procedures. You may need anesthesia even if you´re not in an operating room.
An Accountable Care Organization (ACO) is a group of doctors or hospitals who have agreed to work together to coordinate and improve their patients´ care
A medical home is a type of doctor´s practice that uses a team to focus on the “whole person”. It is sometimes called a patient-centered medical home (PCMH).
Suppose you receive care in a hospital that is in your health plan´s provider network. You may still get a bill from providers who treated you at the hospital but are not part of your plan´s network.
Most health plans have a “network”, a group of doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers who agree to take your insurer´s rate.
Receiving care from a provider in your health plan´s network usually costs you much less than going to an out-of-network provider.
Our mental and emotional health is a vital part of our well-being. If we don´t get the help we need, mental and emotional health problems can hurt our relationships with our family and friends, our jobs and even our communities.
Are you caring long-term for a sick or disabled family member or friend? If so, you may sometimes feel alone and overwhelmed. Luckily, there are resources to help you.