How can I judge the quality of the doctors in a network?

When you're checking out a new insurance plan that has in-network doctors, take a close look at that physician network. Does the insurer have many doctors clustered in a small geographic area, with a narrow mix of specialties? Ideally, you want to see at least a few doctors within comfortable driving distance (unless you have a private chopper, of course), with at least the major specialties represented. This should include anesthesiology; cardiology; critical care; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology; general surgery; neurology; oncology; orthopedics; rheumatology; pediatrics; pulmonology; and the specialty you care about if it's not listed here.

If the plan has lots of doctors, but they all subspecialize in rare tropical infections and share an office complex that's 272 miles down the interstate, keep hunting.