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National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)

Organization of state insurance regulators.

National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA)

Independent organization that oversees managed care plans.

National Health Services Corps (NHSC)

A program providing scholarships and tuition assistance to health professionals operating in community health centers.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Federal agency responsible for biomedical and health-related research.

National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES)

The administrative system for supporting a national plan and provider registry. A comprehensive uniform system for identifying and uniquely enumerating health care providers and plans at the national level.

National Prevention Council

Created through the Affordable Care Act, a group chaired by the Surgeon General and comprised of 20 federal departments, agencies, and offices to ensure the health, well-being and resilience of the American people. Their mission is also known as the National Prevention Strategy.

Navigator

A third-party agent assigned to conduct public education about the availability of qualified health plans and help eligible consumers with the exchange enrollment process.

Network

A collection of heath care providers affiliated with an insurer. Care received from these providers is called in-network care, and care received from a non-network provider is called out-of-network care.

Non-participating Health Care Professional

Health care provider not affiliated with a patient's insurance plan.

Non-preferred Provider

A provider who doesn’t have a contract with your health insurer or plan to provide services to you. A provider need not participate in all preferred provider programs offered by any insurer.

Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs)

A measure of success for a medical treatment or health intervention that looks at the life years gained but adjusted for the patient's quality of…