A federal law that significantly affects health plans is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). In order to comply with HIPAA provisions, issuers offering group health coverage generally must.
Greenpath Health Services, Inc., an HMO, recently terminated some providers from its network in response to the changing enrollment and geographic needs of the plan. A provision in Greenpath's contracts with its healthcare providers states that Greenpath can terminate the contract at any time, without providing any reason for the termination, by giving the other party a specified period of notice.
The state in which Greenpath operates has an HMO statute that is patterned on the NAIC HMO Model Act, which requires Greenpath to notify enrollees of any material change in its provider network. As required by the HMO Model Act, the state insurance department is conducting an examination of Greenpath's operations. The scope of the on-site examination covers all aspects of Greenpath's market conduct operations, including its compliance with regulatory requirements.
The contracts between Greenpath and its healthcare providers contain a termination provision known as
There are several approaches to the interagency division of responsibility for managed care entity (MCE) oversight. In State M, the state Medicaid agency, the state department of health, and the state insurance department are all responsible for ensuring that quality improvement programs are in place among the same group of MCEs and that these programs meet each agency's rules and regulations for such programs. This information indicates that State M uses the approach known as the
From the following answer choices, choose the term that best corresponds to this description. The SureQual Group is a group of practicing physicians and other healthcare professionals paid by the federal government to review services ordered or furnished by other practitioners in the same medical fields for the purpose of determining whether medical services provided were reasonable and necessary, and to monitor the quality of care given to Medicare patients.
Health plans are allowed to appeal rules or regulations that affect them. Generally, the grounds for such appeals are limited either to procedural grounds or jurisdictional grounds. The Kabyle Health Plan appealed the following new regulations:
Appeal 1 - Kabyle objected to this regulation on the ground that this regulation is inconsistent with the law.
Appeal 2 - Kabyle objected to this regulation because it believed that the subject matter was outside the realm of issues that are legal for inclusion in the regulatory agency's regulations.
Appeal 3 - Kabyle objected to the process by which this regulation was adopted.
Of these appeals, the ones that Kabyle appealed on jurisdictional grounds were
The following statements appear in the Twilight Health Plan's strategic plan:
Increase the percentage of preventive health interventions for total eligible membership during each of the next three calendar years for the following services: mammography, Pap smears, immunizations, and first trimester visits for prenatal mothers
Improve customer satisfaction on an annual basis for each of the next three calendar years, as measured by satisfaction surveys for members, providers, and employer groups
Increase by 30% the number of claims processed by the automated claim payment system and reduce by 10% the cost of paying claims during the next three years
These statements are examples of Twilight's
While traditional workers' compensation laws have restricted the use of managed care techniques, many states now allow managed workers' compensation. One common characteristic of managed workers' compensation plans is that they
Antitrust laws can affect the formation, merger activities, or acquisition initiatives of a health plan. In the United States, the two federal agencies that have the primary responsibility for enforcing antitrust laws are the
Determine whether the following statement is true or false:
Although most-favored-nation (MFN) clauses in contracts between health plans and healthcare providers are not per se illegal, they should be reviewed under the rule of reason analysis for antitrust purposes.
The Opal Health Plan complies with all of the provisions of the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996 (NMHPA). Samantha Hill and Debra Chao are Opal enrollees. Ms. Hill was hospitalized for a cesarean birth, and Ms. Chao was hospitalized for a normal delivery. From the following answer choices, select the response that indicates the minimum hospital stay for which Opal, under NMHPA, must provide benefits for Ms. Hill and Ms. Chao.
The Sawgrass Health Center is an institution that trains healthcare professionals and performs various clinical and other types of healthcare-related research. Because Sawgrass receives government funding, it is required to provide medical care for the poor. Of the following types of health plans, Sawgrass can best be described as: