Section 58-17C-13 - Access plan required for managed care plans--Annual update--Contents--Discounted fee-for-service networks exempt.
58-17C-13. Access plan required for managed care plans--Annual update--Contents--Discounted fee-for-service networks exempt. A health carrier shall file with the director, in a manner and form defined by rules promulgated pursuant to chapter 1-26 by the director, an access plan meeting the requirements of §§ 58-17C-7 to 58-17C-26, inclusive, for each of the managed care plans that the carrier offers in this state. The carrier shall prepare an access plan prior to offering a new managed care plan, and shall annually update an existing access plan. The access plan shall describe or contain at least the following:
(1) The health carrier's network;
(2) The health carrier's procedures for making referrals within and outside its network;
(3) The health carrier's process for monitoring and assuring on an ongoing basis the sufficiency of the network to meet the health care needs of populations that enroll in managed care plans;
(4) The health carrier's methods for assessing the health care needs of covered persons and their satisfaction with services;
(5) The health carrier's method of informing covered persons of the plan's services and features, including the plan's grievance procedures and its procedures for providing and approving emergency and specialty care;
(6) The health carrier's system for ensuring the coordination and continuity of care for covered persons referred to specialty physicians, for covered persons using ancillary services, including social services and other community resources, and for ensuring appropriate discharge planning;
(7) The health carrier's process for enabling covered persons to change primary care professionals;
(8) The health carrier's proposed plan for providing continuity of care in the event of contract termination between the health carrier and any of its participating providers, or in the event of the health carrier's insolvency or other inability to continue operations. The description shall explain how covered persons will be notified of the contract termination, or the health carrier's insolvency or other cessation of operations, and transferred to other providers in a timely manner; and
(9) Any other information required by the director to determine compliance with the provisions of §§ 58-17C-7 to 58-17C-26, inclusive.
The provisions of subdivisions (2), (4), (6), (7), and (8), of this section, and the provisions regarding primary care provider-covered person ratios and hours of operation in § 58-17C-8 do not apply to discounted fee-for-service only networks.
Source: SL 1999, ch 245, § 8.