(A) For purposes of any health insurance plan, health maintenance organization, or any other health benefits plan offered in this State under the jurisdiction of South Carolina law:

(1) Each party to a managed care participating provider agreement is responsible for the legal consequences and costs of his own acts or omissions, or both, and is not responsible for the acts or omissions, or both, of the other party. A clause in a participating provider agreement to the contrary is unlawful in this State, as a matter of public policy, whether entered into before or after January 1, 1999.

(2) To the extent that a network plan requires an insured or a member to receive health benefits through a network of providers, the provisions of participating provider agreements may not limit the network provider's:

(a) ability to discuss with an insured or a member, the treatment options available to the insured or member, risks associated with treatments, utilization management decisions, and recommended course of treatment;

(b) legal obligations to an insured or a member as specified under the provider's professional license.

(B) Nothing in this section:

(1) prevents a network plan from prohibiting disclosure by network providers of trade secrets;

(2) subjects a network plan to liability for clinical decisions made solely by the network provider; and

(3) limits the ability of the network plan otherwise prudently to administer its provider contracts.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 441, Section 1.