58-17F-11. Requirements for health carrier and providers in managed care plans. Any health carrier offering a managed care plan shall satisfy all the following requirements:

(1) The health carrier shall establish a mechanism by which the participating provider will be notified on an ongoing basis of the specific covered health services for which the provider will be responsible, including any limitations or conditions on services;

(2) In no event may a participating provider collect or attempt to collect from a covered person any money owed to the provider by the health carrier nor may the provider have any recourse against covered persons for any covered charges in excess of the copayment, coinsurance, or deductible amounts specified in the coverage, including covered persons who have a health savings account;

(3) The provisions of this chapter do not require the health carrier, its intermediaries or the provider networks with which they contract, to employ specific providers or types of providers that may meet their selection criteria, or to contract with or retain more providers or types of providers than are necessary to maintain an adequate network;

(4) The health carrier shall notify participating providers of the providers' responsibilities with respect to the health carrier's applicable administrative policies and programs, including payment terms, utilization review, quality assessment, and improvement programs, grievance procedures, data reporting requirements, confidentiality requirements, and any applicable federal or state programs;

(5) The health carrier may not prohibit or penalize a participating provider from discussing treatment options with covered persons irrespective of the health carrier's position on the treatment options, from advocating on behalf of covered persons within the utilization review or grievance processes established by the carrier or a person contracting with the carrier or from, in good faith, reporting to state or federal authorities any act or practice by the health carrier that jeopardizes patient health or welfare;

(6) The health carrier shall contractually require a provider to make health records available to the carrier upon request but only those health records necessary to process claims, perform necessary quality assurance or quality improvement programs, or to comply with any lawful request for information from appropriate state authorities. Any person that is provided records pursuant to this section shall maintain the confidentiality of such records and may not make such records available to any other person who is not legally entitled to the records;

(7) The health carrier and participating provider shall provide at least sixty days written notice to each other before terminating the contract without cause. If a provider is terminated without cause or chooses to leave the network, upon request by the provider or the covered person and upon agreement by the provider to follow all applicable network requirements, the carrier shall permit the covered person to continue an ongoing course of treatment for ninety days following the effective date of contract termination. If a covered person that has entered a second trimester of pregnancy at the time of contract termination as specified in this section, the continuation of network coverage through that provider shall extend to the provision of postpartum care directly related to the delivery;

(8) The health carrier shall notify the participating providers of their obligations, if any, to collect applicable coinsurance, copayments, or deductibles from covered persons pursuant to the evidence of coverage, or of the providers' obligations, if any, to notify covered persons of their personal financial obligations for noncovered services; and

(9) The health carrier shall establish a mechanism by which the participating providers may determine in a timely manner whether or not a person is covered by the carrier. (SL 2012, ch 239, § 1 provides: "The provisions of chapter 219 of the 2011 Session Laws shall be deemed repealed if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (2010), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-152, 124 Stat. 1029 (2010) is found to be unconstitutional in its entirety by a final decision of a federal court of competent jurisdiction and all appeals exhausted or time for appeals elapsed.")Source: SL 2011, ch 219, § 11.