What's inside? 🧐
- Introduction
- What Is A Network Hospital?
- Claims Process In A Network Hospital
- What Is A Non-network Hospital?
- Claims Process In A Non-network Hospital
- Network Hospitals Vs. Non-network Hospitals: A Quick Comparison
- Network Or Non-network Hospital - Which One Is Better?
- How Many Network Hospitals Do Insurance Companies Have A Tie-up With?
Introduction
When we buy health insurance, we tend to do our research around the Insurer, its claim settlement ratio, sum insured required, product features, etc. However, many of us sometimes overlook the importance of an insurer's network hospital list. We all have our preferences of doctors whom we consult and the hospitals where we take inpatient treatment. And, it is important that our preferred hospitals are part of the Insurer's network list.
Take the hypothetical example of Sid and Tara. Both get admitted to Hospital A, but they have health insurance policies from different insurers.
Now, Hospital A was on the network hospital list of Sid's Insurer, which is why Sid's hospital bill was directly settled by his insurance company - and he just had to pay the minor costs that his policy did not cover. Tara's Insurer, on the other hand, did not have any tie-up with Hospital A, and hence, she had to pay the entire bill out of her pocket and claim it from the Insurer through reimbursement after getting discharged.
To ensure that you experience a hassle-free cashless claims process like Sid, it's important to understand the meaning of network and non-network hospitals in health insurance.
What Is A Network Hospital?
A hospital that has an agreement with your Insurer to settle inpatient claims directly and allow cashless treatment is called a network hospital. Network hospitals are enlisted either by the insurance company or the third-party administrator (TPA) or jointly by both to provide a cashless claims service.
Claims Process In A Network Hospital
The process of claim settlement in a network hospital is relatively easier. Firstly, the documentation is comparatively less important as all important documents, including the discharge summary, doctor's prescriptions, indoor case papers, etc, are provided to the Insurer directly by the cashless desk of the hospital. This reduces the red tape and documentation on your side.
Secondly,it's convenient for you in terms of cash flow management. At a network hospital, if the cashless settlement is approved by the insurer, you don't have to pay out of your pocket first at the time of discharge. The Insurer or the TPA directly settles the bill with the hospital - and you'lll just have to pay for expenses like consumables, administrative fees, registration fees, etc., that may not be covered by your policy.
In case you seek cashless settlement by the Insurer at a network hospital, you should inform your Insurer about the hospitalisation & seek an initial pre-authorization.
- If it's a planned hospitalization, inform your Insurer in time so that the pre-authorization is done by the time you get admitted.
- In case of an emergency, you should inform your Insurer quickly after hospital admission to reduce out-of-pocket expenses.
The earlier you get a pre-authorization from the Insurer, the lesser will be the out-of-pocket expenses will be. The Insurer may first approve a lower amount, and every time the total hospital bill exceeds the approved amount by the Insurer, the hospital raises a fresh request to increase the limit under pre-authorization.
Then, beforeyou'ree discharged, the TPA or the hospital insurance desk will send the final bill and other required documents to the Insurer. The Insurer will evaluate, approve, and settle these bills directly. You won'tt have to worry about anything, as the submission of claims and documents will be handled by the TPA and the hospital insurance desk.
What Is A Non-network Hospital?
A hospital that is not empanelled with the Insurer (from where you have taken your Health Insurance) for cashless settlement of hospital bills/claim amount is known as a non-network hospital.
Claims Process In A Non-network Hospital
If you get admitted to a non-network hospital, you don't have the comfort of direct cashless settlement by the Insurer. You'll have to arrange the necessary funds and pay the entire hospital bill out of your pocket first and then claim reimbursement of your hospital expenses from the Insurer.
Here, a lot of paperwork will be involved -you'lll have to submit various documents to the Insurer like - a discharge summary, original bills,doctor'ss prescriptions, original reports, and a duly filled claim form that is stamped and signed by the hospital authorities. Then, you'll have to wait for at least 10-12 days (in some cases, it may even take months) to get the money back from the insurance company. The entire process becomes very time-consuming and tedious.
Network Hospitals Vs. Non-network Hospitals: A Quick Comparison
Parameter | Network Hospitals | Non-network Hospitals Meaning | These are hospitals that have an agreement with the insurer to offer cashless facilities. | These are hospitals that do not have any agreement with the insurance company. How does the claim process work? | The insurer will settle the bill with the hospital directly. You’ll only have to pay for those expenses that the insurer did not cover. | You’ll have to first pay the hospital bill out of your pocket and then claim from the insurer on a reimbursement basis. Waiting time | No waiting time for you after the Insurer approves & promises to settle the bills directly with the hospital. You immediately get discharged and can go home. | You’ll have to wait for at least 10-12 days to get the claim amount settled by your Insurer. The waiting time varies across insurers. How smooth is the claim settlement process? | There are fewer hassles as the hospital directly submits the required hospital bills, prescriptions, indoor case papers, etc to the insurer & the insurer settles the claim directly with the hospital. | The process will be a bit tedious. You’ll have to compile all the documents and bills, submit them to the insurer, and then wait for a few days (sometimes months) to get the claim settled.
Network Or Non-network Hospital - Which One Is Better?
A network hospital, undoubtedly, will be the better option - it will save you the time and trouble of compiling and filing paperwork to get the claim. Also, youdon'tyou'llt have to pay the hefty hospital bills out of your pocket first before getting it settled by the Insurer.
You should choose a non-network hospital only if -
- The treatment you need to undergo is not available on your insurer's list of network hospitals, or it is an unavoidable emergency. (In this case, getting admitted to the nearest hospital will be the safer option; it doesn't matter if it's a network or a non-network hospital.)
How Many Network Hospitals Do Insurance Companies Have A Tie-up With?
This number will differ from insurer to Insurer. To know the number of hospitals in the insurance company's network, you can either check the policy document of the plan you're buying or the insurance company's website.
Here’s a list of some insurance companies and the number of network hospitals they have tie-ups with -
Insurance Company | Number of Network Hospitals Aditya Birla | 9,000 Bajaj Allianz | 6,500 Care Insurance | 16,500 HDFC Ergo | 10,000 ICICI Lombard | 6,500 Manipal Cigna | 6,500 Niva Bupa | 7,600 New India | 1,500 Star Health | 11,000 TATA AIG | 7,200
This data was taken on 18.02.22
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