AI-assisted research summary: Carriers offering health plans in the state must run a shopping and decision support program, give enrollees notice and information, file program details and annual reports, and the commissioner may limit reporting; carriers may also offer incentives under stated conditions.
Beginning upon approval of the next health insurance rate filing on or after January 1, 2021, a carrier offering a health plan in this state shall implement a shopping and decision support program that provides shopping capabilities and decision support services for enrollees in a health plan. Beginning on January 1, 2021, a carrier may provide incentives for enrollees in a health plan who elect to receive a comparable healthcare service from a network provider that is covered by the health plan and that is paid less than the average allowed amount paid by that carrier to network providers for that comparable healthcare service before and after an enrollee's out-of-pocket limit has been met. Incentives, effective January 1, 2021, may be calculated as a percentage of the difference between the amount actually paid by the carrier for a given comparable healthcare service and the average allowed amount for that service. Incentives may be provided as a cash payment to the enrollee, a credit toward the enrollee's annual in-network deductible and out-of-pocket limit, or a credit or reduction of a premium, a copayment, cost sharing, or a deductible. The shopping and decision support program may provide each enrollee with at least fifty percent (50%) of the carrier's saved costs for each comparable healthcare service. However, the shopping and decision support program may exclude incentive payments, credits, or reductions for services where the savings to the carrier is fifty dollars ($50.00) or less. The average allowed amount must be based on the actual allowed amounts paid to network providers under the enrollee's health plan within a reasonable timeframe, not to exceed one (1) year. Annually, at enrollment or renewal, a carrier shall provide, at a minimum, notice to enrollees of the right to obtain information described in subdivision (a)(4) and the process for obtaining the information, and a description of how to earn any incentives. A carrier shall provide this notice on the carrier's website and in health plan materials provided to enrollees. An insurance carrier shall make the shopping and decision support program available as a component of all health plans offered by the carrier in this state. Prior to offering the shopping and decision support program to any enrollee, a carrier shall file a description of the shopping and decision support program established by the carrier pursuant to this section with the department. The insurance carrier has discretion as to the appropriate format for providing the information required and may customize the format in order to provide the most relevant information necessary to permit the department to determine compliance. The department may review the filing made by the carrier to determine if the carrier's shopping and decision support program complies with this section. Beginning January 1, 2022, a carrier shall annually file with the department for the most recent calendar year the total number of comparable healthcare service incentive payments made pursuant to this section, the use of comparable healthcare services by category of service for which comparable healthcare service incentive payments were made, the total incentive payments made to enrollees, the average amount of incentive payments made by service for the transactions, and the total number and percentage of a carrier's enrollees that participated in the transactions. Beginning in 2022 and by April 1 of each year thereafter, the commissioner shall submit an aggregate report for all carriers filing the information required by this subsection (d) to the commerce and labor committee of the senate and the insurance committee of the house of representatives. The commissioner may set reasonable limits on the annual reporting requirements on carriers to focus on the more popular comparable healthcare services.