(Editor's note: This blog has been republished here with permission from Zane Benefits. This is part three of an ongoing series. You can check out part one here and you can read the original, in its entirety, here.)

A major limitation of group health insurance is that you and your family do not get to pick the provider network. The provider network refers to the medical providers (e.g., doctors and hospitals) covered by the plan.

Today's health insurance plans are dominated by the managed care model—for each plan, insurance companies maintain a list of doctors and facilities from which you can choose. This list is called the provider network. The provider network is the group of doctors, clinics, hospitals, and other medical sites covered by your health insurance. Different health insurance plans will provide you with different levels of coverage depending on whether you receive medical care inside or outside of the plan's provider network.