Once you’re looking at your “in-network providers” you may also need to consider preferred vs. non-preferred providers. A preferred provider is a doctor or hospital that has a contract with your health insurance company/plan to provide services to you at a discount. Policies differ on whether or not these preferred providers are “tiered” (ranked – so some doctors may cost extra to go to). Preferred is different from participating insofar as a participating doctor may not have the same deal with the insurance company as the preferred doctor, so will thus cost more