SB 780

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law requires a health care service plan to submit a filing to the department at least 75 days prior to the termination date of its contract with a provider group or a general acute care hospital that includes the written notice the plan proposes to send to its affected enrollees. The filing is required to be reviewed and approved by the department prior to the notice being sent to the enrollees. Existing law also requires the plan to provide written notice to affected enrollees, as provided, prior to the termination date of a contract between the plan and a provider group or a general acute care hospital. A plan operating as a preferred provider organization is only required to send the written notice to all enrollees who reside within a 15-mile radius of a terminated hospital if it is a general acute care hospital. This bill would delete the requirements with regard to preferred provider organizations. The bill would change the timing of the 75-day filing to 30 days prior to the termination date for a contract between a health care service plan that is not a health maintenance organization and a provider group or general acute care hospital. The bill would distinguish between enrollees of an assigned group provider and enrollees of an unassigned group provider for purposes of whether the filing is required to be submitted to the department. The bill would also require that the plan send a department-approved written notice to the enrollees, whether or not a filing was required, when a provider group contract or a general acute care hospital contract is terminated. The bill would distinguish between the enrollees of an assigned or an unassigned provider group or general acute care hospital with regard to the timing of the consumer notice and method of delivery. With respect to the termination of a contract with an unassigned provider group or general acute care hospital, the bill would impose specified continued access to services requirements, billing requirements, and requirements to obtain information from the terminated provider group or general acute care hospital regarding enrollees who have services scheduled with the terminated provider group or general acute care hospital for after the termination date using a process agreed upon in the terminating contract. The bill would authorize the department to develop a standard format for the required notices. Because a willful violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, a health insurer may contract with providers for alternative rates of payment. Existing law requires those insurers to file a policy with the department describing how the insurer facilitates the continuity of care for new insureds under group policies receiving services for an acute condition from a noncontracting provider. Existing law also requires those health insurers to, at the request of an insured, arrange for the completion of covered services by a terminated provider if the insured is undergoing treatment for certain conditions, as specified. This bill would require, among other things, a health insurer to submit a filing to the department, at least 30 days prior to the termination date of its contract with a provider group or a general acute care hospital to provide services at alternative rates of payment, that includes the written notice the insurer proposes to send to its insureds. The bill would require the filing to be reviewed and approved by the department prior to the notice being sent to the insureds. The bill would set a threshold for the number of insureds receiving health care services from a group provider within the preceding 12 months for purposes of whether the filing is required to be submitted to the department. The bill would also require that the health insurer send a department-approved written notice to specified insureds, whether or not a filing was required, when a provider group contract or a general acute care hospital contract is terminated, and would impose specified continued access to services requirements, billing requirements, and requirements to obtain information from the terminated provider group or general acute care hospital regarding insureds who have services scheduled with the terminated provider group or general acute care hospital for after the termination date using a process agreed upon in the terminating contract. The bill would authorize the department to develop a standard format for the required notices. Existing law requires disability insurance policies to include a disclosure form that contains specified information, including the principal benefits and coverage of the policy, the exceptions, reductions, and limitations that apply to the policy, and a statement, with respect to health insurance policies, describing how participation in the policy may affect the choice of physician, hospital, or health care providers, and describing the extent of financial liability that may be incurred if care is furnished by a nonparticipating provider. With respect to health insurance policies, this bill would require the disclosure form to include additional information, including conditions and procedures for cancellation, rescission, or nonrenewal, a description of the limitations on the insured's choice of provider, and, with respect to insurers that contract for alternate rates of payment, a statement describing the basic method of reimbursement made to its participating providers, as specified. The bill would also require the first page of the disclosure form for health insurance policies to include other specified information. The bill would require a health insurer, medical group, or participating provider that uses or receives financial bonuses or other incentives to provide a written summary of specified information to any requesting person. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.