Relating to health

ARTICLE 1 - HEALTH PLAN INNOVATION AND REGULATION

Increasing the minimum and maximum premium rates for membership in the comprehensive health insurance plan of the Minnesota comprehensive health association (MCHA); exempting certain smaller claims from prior authorization requirements for utilization review purposes, authorizing utilization review organizations to apply greater levels of scrutiny in prior authorization and in determining medical necessity for nonemergency imaging, testing and transport, requiring organization development of a definition of nonemergency care to be available to health care providers; requiring a certain statement relating to Minnesota law on health plan identification (ID) cards; modifying certain requirements for the formation of voluntary health care plan purchasing pools; requiring the commissioner of commerce to issue cash payment discount cards upon request and payment of a fee entitling card owners to discounts from health care providers voluntarily participating in the program in exchange for same day full payment of charges for services, supplies and prescription drugs; requiring health plan company annual reports to the commissioner of certain information relating to administrative efficiency for use by the commissioner in compiling health plan company specific administrative efficiency report cards to be available on agency web sites; requiring health plan companies and service cooperatives annual reporting to the commissioner of certain information relating to health coverage options; requiring health plans providing prescription drug coverage to cover medication therapy management services for certain enrollees, defining medication therapy management, requiring pharmacists to meet certain requirements for eligibility for reimbursement for the services; transferring regulatory responsibilities for health maintenance organizations (HMO) from the commissioner of health to the commissioner of commerce after a certain date, requiring the revisor of statutes to prepare legislation to make the necessary statutory changes

ARTICLE 2 - PUBLIC HEALTH, HEALTH CARE AND HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

Specifying certain licensee fraud investigation requirements of the division of insurance fraud prevention in the department of commerce and the appropriate health related licensing board; requiring annual disclosure to the commissioner of health by health care providers of charges and payment rates, authorizing commissioner exemption of specific providers from the requirement under certain conditions; changing best practices guidelines and measurement activities of health care providers and health plan companies to evidenced based health care guidelines to improve quality and reduce health care costs, authorizing health related licensing boards to establish practice standards for treating patients, specifying certain guidelines criteria requirements, providing for measurement and reporting of performance; modifying executive compensation disclosure requirements of health plan companies and expanding the requirements to hospitals under contract with the health plan companies; providing for health related licensing boards involvement in excessive automobile insurance claims; requiring the commissioner of health in cooperation with the commissioner of commerce to post certain consumer health information on agency web sites; requiring and providing for the commissioner of health to establish and maintain a cancer drug repository program authorizing persons to donate cancer drugs or supplies for use by individuals meeting certain eligibility criteria, specifying requirements for participation by pharmacies or medical facilities and individual eligibility requirements, regulating donations and the dispensing or distribution of the drugs and supplies, authorizing a handling fee, specifying certain recordkeeping requirements, liability immunity provision; "Minnesota Acquired Infections Disclosure Act", providing for the reporting of acquired infections by licensed hospitals or outpatients surgical centers, specifying certain data collection and reporting requirements, providing for the confidentiality of certain data and requiring the commissioner to establish an advisory committee to assist in the development of procedures for collecting, analyzing and reporting information on acquired infection rates, requiring commissioner rules; specifying certain uncompensated care reporting requirements of health care providers; imposing certain liability limits on nongovernmental emergency medical services (EMS) licensees; requiring and providing for community health boards to coordinate health and wellness programs in respective communities; requiring and providing for commissioner establishment of a public health grant fund and program for grants to statewide and local health improvement public private partnerships to reduce the rate of increase in health care costs; requiring pharmacies to make available to patients information on pharmaceutical assistance programs offered by manufacturers; providing for review of malpractice judgments, claims, settlements, verdicts or criminal convictions by the health related licensing boards, authorizing the boards to establish and update practice standards for treating patients with injuries sustained in no-fault automobile accidents and requiring the boards to establish a directory of licensees including biographical data and malpractice or other judgments or convictions

ARTICLE 3 - MISCELLANEOUS AND STUDIES

Requiring the commissioner of health to develop and implement a statewide action plan for improving the health status of Minnesotans and promoting primary prevention, specifying certain plan requirements; requiring the commissioner of commerce, the health related licensing boards, professional provider associations and automobile insurance carriers to study the medical costs associated with no-fault automobile accidents and report to the legislature by a certain date; stating the intent of the legislature to promote and support a health care purchasing system for public and private purchasers of health care promoting individual consumer choice, specifying certain commissioner of health plan development requirements; requiring and providing for the commissioners of health, commerce and human services to study certain health care cost containment issues and report to the legislature by a certain date, specifying certain report content requirements and options; requiring and providing for the commissioner of commerce to annually provide to the legislature a report on the status of the market for medical malpractice insurance; requiring the commissioners of health and commerce to study the possibility of reducing the cost of individual and group health coverage through the creation of a state sponsored reinsurance program available to health plan companies, self insured employers, service cooperatives, the Minnesota comprehensive health association (MCHA) and other sources of private sector and public employee health coverage, specifying certain study requirements and requiring a report to the legislature by a certain date

ARTICLE 4 - HEALTH PLAN ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES

Eliminating the exemption of health maintenance organizations from insurance fraud prevention account assessments; clarifying certain health data or information disclosure requirements of HMOs; eliminating certain health plan company annual report content requirements relating to qualified and unqualified plans for comprehensive health insurance purposes; clarifying the definition of clean claim for prompt payment requirement purposes, restricting the authority of health plan companies or third party administrators to require health care providers to bill for interest on the payment of claims, regulating the filing of claims by health care providers and facilities and specifying certain additional requirements of insurers relating to claims submitted under health policies; eliminating the requirement for third party purchasers to include with annual certification of authority or licensure renewal documentation indicating compliance with certain restrictions on the transfer of certain expenses for MinnesotaCare gross earnings tax purposes; repealing certain self insurer identification and reporting requirements and a certain provision regulating expanded provider networks under the Minnesota comprehensive insurance plan (MCHA)
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