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Who cares
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Sponsors
History
- Referred to health
- Referred to health
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring health care providers to post notice of cessation of participation in a health maintenance organization
Purpose
To ensure patients are aware that their health care provider will no longer be participating in their Health Maintenance Organization's network.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill adds a new section 18-b to the public health law to require a health care provider to post a notice in their offices notifying patients that they will no longer be participating in a Health Maintenance Organization's network. This section specifies the size and content of the notice and requires the notice to be posted within 15 days of the decision to leave the HMO and remain posted 30 days after the health care provider has left the network.
Existing law
Under current law, when a primary care physician is leaving an HMO's network, the HMO must notify all plan participants of the change in status. However, when a patient has been referred to another provider for additional treatments or procedures, there is no mechanism to ensure that patients are notified if that provider plans to leave the network.
Justification
When a patient has been referred to a health care provider, they are not given any official notification if that provider decides to leave a Health Maintenance Organization's network. While it would be expected that the office personnel would inform the patient when they visit the office, it could be overlooked by the health care provider's staff or not fully understood by the patient. This bill would ensure that proper notice of this intent is posted in the office, allowing patients to make other arrangements concerning their insurance and health care.
Legislative history
2007 - Referred to Health 2008 - Referred to Health
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.