Difference Between Network And Non-Network Hospitals

Health insurances serve the best purpose, especially at the time of a medical emergency. Health insurances provide cover for varied medical purposes and support an insured person financially. Benefits incurred from a health insurance cover range from hospitalization costs, private room charges, domiciliary charges, inpatient charges, ambulance charges and so on.

Different health insurance providers offer different health cover and a policy owner has the right to choose the best policy provider depending on the coverage and benefits they offer. Thus, it is advisable for the consumers to analyze the benefits offered in terms of the requirements before buying an insurance. Here, factors like age of the insured person, past health history of the person, diseases already suffering from, financial situation of the person, etc. needs to be considered.

Also, depending on your need you can even choose between a policy offering cashless settlement of claims or reimbursement of claims. In case of cashless claims, you can avail the facility if you get your treatment done in any of the network hospitals of the insurance company. But in case of reimbursement claims, you can avail the facility by getting treatment at any hospital of your choice.

Since network hospitals are linked with your insurance providers, they can clear your medical bills by directly making the payments to the network hospital without your much involvement. Thus, you won’t have to worry about paying the money from your pocket or of any other hassle.

In this blog, we will talk about the difference between network and non network hospital to allow you to know your policy better.

What are Network Hospitals?

The group of hospitals that are allied with your health insurance company are called as network hospitals. You can avail the facility of cashless claims from your insurance provider in any of the network hospital list mentioned in the website of your insurance company.

Here are the steps to avail cashless claim benefit from your policy holder:

  • Each health insurance company has a large network of hospitals. So, choose a hospital that is enlisted in the network of hospitals of your insurance provider.
  • You can avail the benefit of cashless claim at the hospital after showing a health card offered by your insurance provider.
  • The hospital list serve as an important factor that influences the choice of policy owners while selecting a policy provider.
  • Choosing to get treatment at a network hospital is necessary since your hospital bills are directly cleared by the insurance provider in the network hospitals.
  • Thus, it saves your involvement and make process fast and hassle-free.

What does Non – Network Hospital means?

Non network hospital means the regular hospitals situated in your city or across the country, which are not mentioned in the hospital name list of the network hospitals of your insurance company.  You can avail treatment at any such non-network hospitals. But in this case, you have to pay the bills on your own. Later you can claim reimbursement for the treatment from your policy provider. The amount reimbursed is received in your registered bank account. A person with money in hand and who can pay the medical bills on their own at the time of discharge can get treatment at a non-network hospital. Also, in case of an unavoidable situation, you can go to a non-network hospital. In other cases, it is better to go to a network hospital so that you can claim cashless and hassle-free claim benefit.

3 Differences between Network and Non-Network Hospitals

Network and non-network hospitals differ in three basic factors. They are:

  1. Procedure/Formalities
  2. Payments
  3. Reimbursement Period

Let’s see the points in detail:

1. Procedure/Formalities:

The procedure or the paperwork required in the network and non-network hospitals varies. In non-network hospitals, you need to fulfill numerous formalities including form fill-up, paperwork, form-submission etc., while in case of network hospitals, you can make cashless claims where the payment will directly reach the hospital account. Moreover, the settlement of claims in network hospitals is faster as compared to non-network hospitals.

2. Payments:

In non-network hospitals, you must pay the bills at the hospital where you are undergoing treatment at the time of discharge and can make the claim for reimbursement from your policy provider later. Here, the amount will be transferred in the registered bank account of the policy owner within 2-3 working days. However, in case of network hospitals, you can make cashless claims and your medical bills will be cleared directly by the insurance company.

3. Reimbursement Period:

The waiting time for getting a payment cleared in case of a network hospital is just hours. Once you file a request to settle a claim in a network hospital, it is done within a few hours by the insurer after the verification is done. Here, the claim amount is directly provided to the network hospital as they directly clear the dues.

This is not the same in case of non-network hospitals because non-network hospitals take at least 2-3 working days to reimburse your claim. Once you submit the documents and it gets verified by the company, they transfer the amount into your official bank account registered with the insurance company.

Conclusion

FAQs on Network and Non Network Hospital

The patient won't have to submit any bills or documents and there is no waiting period. The only expenses the policyholder will bear are those which are not covered under the policy. However, when a person is admitted to a non-network hospital, he has to pay for the whole treatment.

Network hospitals refer to empanelled hospitals where you can avail yourself cashless treatment facilities. Hospital expenses are reimbursed later in a non-network hospital. Spike in medical inflation has significantly pushed up hospitalisation expenses, making health insurance an absolute must.

The biggest benefit of availing treatment at a network hospital is that the insured does has to run to different places in order to make financial arrangements and all expenses are borne by the insurer.

What Are Network Hospitals? While buying a health insurance policy, the policyholder will get a list of network hospitals where they can avail the facility of cashless treatment. The hospitals listed where cashless treatment can be availed are known as 'network hospitals'.

Over to You

Care Health Supreme and HDFC ERGO Optima Restore are among the best health insurance policies in India today. It is a matter of your priority, coverage depth over cost effectiveness. Here’s a quick recap for you to make an informed decision.

Both offer coverage of up to ₹1 crore; Optima Restore starts at ₹3L, Care Supreme at ₹7L. Supreme offers unlimited recharge; Optima Restore offers 100% once a year, after a claim is made. Care includes OPD + unlimited e-consults; Optima lacks OPD, allows one consultation/year. Care gives a 30% discount + 500% bonus; Optima offers 8% discount + 50% bonus. Care Supreme is costlier but has more features. Optima suits budget buyers; Care fits those needing wider, long-term coverage.

Whichever health insurance plan you choose, ensure to read the policy wordings and seek advice from an expert before you make the purchase. The best health insurance is the one that covers you the way you want to be covered.
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Author Bio

Paybima Team

Paybima is an Indian insurance aggregator on a mission to make insurance simple for people. Paybima is the Digital arm of the already established and trusted Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd., a reputed name in the insurance broking industry with 17 years of experience. Paybima promises you the easy-to-access online platform to buy insurance policies, and also extend their unrelented assistance with all your policy related queries and services.

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