26:2SS-5 Disclosures by health care professional relative to participation in health benefits plans.

5. a. Except as provided in subsection f. of this section, a health care professional shall disclose to a covered person in writing or through an internet website the health benefits plans in which the health care professional is a participating provider and the facilities with which the health care professional is affiliated prior to the provision of non-emergency services, and verbally or in writing, at the time of an appointment. If a health care professional does not participate in the network of the covered person's health benefits plan, the health care professional shall, in terms the covered person typically understands:

(1) Prior to scheduling a non-emergency procedure inform the covered person that the professional is out-of-network and that the amount or estimated amount the health care professional will bill the covered person for the services is available upon request;

(2) Upon receipt of a request from a covered person for the service and the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes associated with that service, disclose to the covered person in writing the amount or estimated amount that the health care professional will bill the covered person for the service, and the CPT codes associated with that service, absent unforeseen medical circumstances that may arise when the health care service is provided;

(3) Inform the covered person that the covered person will have a financial responsibility applicable to health care services provided by an out-of-network professional, in excess of the covered person's copayment, deductible, or coinsurance, and the covered person may be responsible for any costs in excess of those allowed by their health benefits plan; and

(4) Advise the covered person to contact the covered person's carrier for further consultation on those costs.

b. A health care professional who is a physician shall provide the covered person, to the extent the information is available, with the name, practice name, mailing address, and telephone number of any health care provider scheduled to perform anesthesiology, laboratory, pathology, radiology, or assistant surgeon services in connection with care to be provided in the physician's office for the covered person or coordinated or referred by the physician for the covered person at the time of referral to, or coordination of, services with that provider. The physician shall provide instructions as to how to determine the health benefits plans in which the health care provider participates and recommend that the covered person should contact the covered person's carrier for further consultation on costs associated with these services.

c. A physician shall, for a covered person's scheduled facility admission or scheduled outpatient facility services, provide the covered person and the facility with the name, practice name, mailing address, and telephone number of any other physician whose services will be arranged by the physician and are scheduled at the time of the pre-admission, testing, registration, or admission at the time the non-emergency services are scheduled, and information as to how to determine the health benefits plans in which the physician participates, and recommend that the covered person should contact the covered person's carrier for further consultation on costs associated with these services.

d. The receipt or acknowledgement by any covered person of any disclosure required pursuant to this section shall not waive or otherwise affect any protection under existing statutes or regulations regarding in-network health benefits plan coverage available to the covered person or created under this act.

e. If, between the time the notice required pursuant to subsection a. of this section is provided to the covered person and the time the procedure takes place, the network status of the professional changes as it relates to the covered person's health benefits plan, the professional shall notify the covered person promptly.

f. In the case of a primary care physician or internist performing an unscheduled procedure in that provider's office, the notice required pursuant this section may be made verbally at the time of the service.

g. The appropriate professional or occupational licensing board within the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall specify in further detail the content and design of the disclosure form and the manner in which the form shall be provided.

L.2018, c.32, s.5.