Provisions below effective January 2011 through December 2011:
(a) A carrier that offers a health benefit plan that: (i) provides or arranges for the delivery of health care services through a closed network of health care providers; and (ii) as of the close of any preceding calendar year, has a combined total of 5,000 or more eligible individuals, eligible employees and eligible dependents, who are enrolled in health benefit plans sold, issued, delivered, made effective or renewed to qualified small businesses or eligible individuals, shall offer to all eligible individuals and small businesses in at least 1 geographic area at least one plan with either a reduced or selective network of providers, or a plan in which providers are tiered and member cost sharing is based on the tier placement of the provider. The base premium for the reduced or selective network, or tiered network plan shall be at least 12 per cent lower than the base premium of the carrier's most actuarially similar plan with the carrier's non-selective or non-tiered network of providers.
(b) A tiered network plan shall only include variations on member cost-sharing between provider tiers, which are reasonable in relation to the premium charged, as long as the carrier provides adequate access to covered services at lower patient cost sharing levels.
(c) The commissioner shall determine network adequacy for a tiered network plan based on the availability of sufficient network providers in the carrier's overall tiered network plan.
(d) The commissioner shall determine network adequacy for a select network plan based on the availability of sufficient network providers in the carrier's select network of providers.
(e) In determining network adequacy under this section the commissioner may consider factors including: the location of providers participating in the plan; employers or members that enroll in the plan; the range of services provided by providers in the plan; and any plan benefits that recognize and provide for extraordinary medical needs of members that may not be adequately dealt with by the providers within the plan network.
(f) Carriers may: (i) reclassify provider tiers; or (ii) determine provider participation in selective and tiered plans no more than once per calendar year; provided, however, that carriers may reclassify providers from a higher cost tier to a lower cost tier or add new providers to its selective and tiered plans at any time. If the carrier reclassifies provider tiers or providers participating in a selective plan during the course of an account year, the carrier shall provide affected members of the account with information regarding the plan changes at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Carriers shall provide information on their websites about any tiered or selective plan, including, but not limited to, the providers participating in the plan, the selection criteria for those providers and if applicable, the tier in which each provider is classified.
(g) The division of insurance shall report annually on utilization trends of eligible employers and eligible individuals enrolled in plans offered under this section The report shall include the number of members enrolled by plan type, de-identified aggregate demographic, and geographic information on all members and the average direct premium claims incurred for selective and tiered network plans compared to non-selective and non-tiered plans.
Provisions below effective January 2012:
(a) A carrier that offers a health benefit plan that: (i) provides or arranges for the delivery of health care services through a closed network of health care providers; and (ii) as of the close of any preceding calendar year, has a combined total of 5,000 or more eligible individuals, eligible employees and eligible dependents, who are enrolled in health benefit plans sold, issued, delivered, made effective or renewed to qualified small businesses or eligible individuals, shall offer to all eligible individuals and small businesses in at least 1 geographic area at least 1 plan with either a reduced or selective network of providers or a plan in which providers are tiered and member cost sharing is based on the tier placement of the provider. The base premium for the reduced or selective or tiered network plan shall be at least 12 per cent lower than the base premium of the carrier's most actuarially similar plan with the carrier's non-selective or non-tiered network of providers. The savings may be achieved by means including, but not limited to: (i) the exclusion of providers with similar or lower quality based on the standard quality measure set with higher health status adjusted total medical expenses or relative prices, as determined under section 6 of chapter 118G; or (ii) increased member cost-sharing for members who utilize providers for non-emergency services with similar or lower quality based on the standard quality measure set and with higher health status adjusted total medical expenses or relative prices, as determined under section 6 of chapter 118G.
(b) A tiered network plan shall only include variations in member cost-sharing between provider tiers which are reasonable in relation to the premium charged and ensure adequate access to covered services. Carriers shall tier providers based on quality performance as measured by the standard quality measure set and by cost performance as measured by health status adjusted total medical expenses and relative prices. Where applicable quality measures are not available, tiering may be based solely on health status adjusted total medical expenses or relative prices or both. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations requiring the uniform reporting of tiering information, including, but not limited to requiring, at least 90 days before the proposed effective date of any tiered network plan or any modification in the tiering methodology for any existing tiered network plan, the reporting of a detailed description of the methodology used for tiering providers, including: the statistical basis for tiering; a list of providers to be tiered at each member cost-sharing level; a description of how the methodology and resulting tiers will be communicated to each network provider, eligible individuals and small groups; and a description of the appeals process a provider may pursue to challenge the assigned tier level.
(c) The commissioner shall determine network adequacy for a tiered network plan based on the availability of sufficient network providers in the carrier's overall network of providers.
(d) The commissioner shall determine network adequacy for a selective network plan based on the availability of sufficient network providers in the carrier's selective network.
(e) In determining network adequacy under this section the commissioner of insurance may take into consideration factors such as the location of providers participating in the plan and employers or members that enroll in the plan, the range of services provided by providers in the plan and plan benefits that recognize and provide for extraordinary medical needs of members that may not be adequately dealt with by the providers within the plan network.
(f) Carriers may: (i) reclassify provider tiers; and (ii) determine provider participation in selective and tiered plans no more than once per calendar year except that carriers may reclassify providers from a higher cost tier to a lower cost tier or add providers to a selective network at any time. If the carrier reclassifies provider tiers or providers participating in a selective plan during the course of an account year, the carrier shall provide affected members of the account with information regarding the plan changes at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Carriers shall provide information on their websites about any tiered or selective plan, including but not limited to, the providers participating in the plan, the selection criteria for those providers and where applicable, the tier in which each provider is classified.
(g) The division of insurance shall report annually on utilization trends of eligible employers and eligible individuals enrolled in plans offered under this section. The report shall include the number of members enrolled by plan type, aggregate demographic, geographic information on all members and the average direct premium claims incurred, as defined in section 6, for selective and tiered network products compared to non-selective and non-tiered products.
Requires selective or tiered network plan to be offered by all health plans that provide coverage through a closed network of health care providers to at least 5,000 individuals, employees, and dependents in the individual and small group maket. The plan must offer enrollees in at least one geographic area at least one selective or tiered provider network plan at a premium rate that is at least 12% lower than a plan with comparable benefits but without a selective network of providers.
The Division of Insurance (DOI) will determine network adequacy based on listed factors. Carriers may reclassify provider tiers or determine participation in selective or tiered network plans once per calendar year but may add providers or move them to a lower cost tier at any time. Carriers must provide 30 days notice prior to reclassification of providers. Each health plan must report on its website information about the tiered or selective plan and on providers participating in the plan. The DOI must report annually to the legislature on utilization trends of individuals and groups in these plans.
Section 32 is effective during 2011, and is replaced by Section 33, which expands Section 32 to include methods a health plan may use to achieve cost savings within the selective or tiered plan.
M.G.L. Chapter 176J, section 11; added by sections 32-33 of Chapter 288 of the Acts of 2010; last amended by section 103 of Chapter 359 of the Acts of 2010