A. A provider shall not knowingly submit to a covered person a surprise bill for health care services, which surprise bill demands payment for any amount in excess of the cost-sharing amounts that would have been imposed by the covered person’s health benefits plan if the health care service from which the surprise bill arises had been rendered by a participating provider.

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B. It shall be an unfair practice for a health care provider to knowingly submit a surprise bill to a collection agency.

C. As used in this section:

(1)     “covered person” means:

(a) an enrollee, policyholder or subscriber;

(b) the enrolled dependent of an enrollee, policyholder or subscriber; or

(c) another individual participating in a health benefits plan;

(2)     “emergency care” means a health care procedure, treatment or service, excluding ambulance transportation service, which procedure, treatment or service is delivered to a covered person after the sudden onset of what reasonably appears to be a medical or behavioral health condition that manifests itself by symptoms of sufficient severity, including severe pain, that the absence of immediate medical attention, regardless of eventual diagnosis, could be expected by a reasonable layperson to result in jeopardy to a person’s physical or mental health or to the health or safety of a fetus or pregnant person, serious impairment of bodily function, serious dysfunction of a bodily organ or part or disfigurement to a person;

(3)     “facility” means an entity providing a health care service, including: (a) a general, special, psychiatric or rehabilitation hospital;

(b) an ambulatory surgical center; (c) a cancer treatment center;

(d) a birth center;

(e) an inpatient, outpatient or residential drug and alcohol treatment center;

center;

(f) a laboratory, diagnostic or other outpatient medical service or testing (g) a health care provider’s office or clinic; (h) an urgent care center;

(i) a freestanding emergency room; or

(j) any other therapeutic health care setting;

(4)     “freestanding emergency room” means a facility licensed by the department of health that is separate from an acute care hospital and that provides twenty-four-hour emergency care to patients at the same level of care that a hospital- based emergency room delivers;

(5)     “health benefits plan” means a policy or agreement entered into, offered or issued by a health insurance carrier to provide, deliver, arrange for, pay for or reimburse any of the costs of health care services; provided that “health benefits plan” does not include any of the following:

(a) an accident-only policy; (b) a credit-only policy;

(c) a long- or short-term care or disability income policy; (d) a specified disease policy;

(e) coverage provided pursuant to Title 18 of the federal Social Security Act, as amended;

(f) coverage provided pursuant to Title 19 of the federal Social Security Act and the Public Assistance Act N.M. Stat. Ann. § 27-2-1 to 27-2-34;

(g) a federal TRICARE policy, including a federal civilian health and medical program of the uniformed services supplement;

(h) a fixed or hospital indemnity policy; (i) a dental-only policy;

(j) a vision-only policy;

(k) a workers’ compensation policy;

(l) an automobile medical payment policy; or

(m) any other policy specified in rules of the superintendent; (6)     “health care services”:

(a) means any service, supply or procedure for the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, cure or relief of a health condition, illness, injury or other disease, including physical or behavioral health services, to the extent offered by a health benefits plan;

and (b) does not mean ambulance transportation services;

(7)     “health insurance carrier” means an entity subject to state insurance laws, including a health insurance company, a health maintenance organization, a hospital and health service corporation, a provider service network, a nonprofit health care plan or any other entity that contracts or offers to contract, or enters into agreements to provide, deliver, arrange for, pay for or reimburse any costs of health care services or that provides, offers or administers a health benefit policy or managed health care plan in the state;

(8)     “hospital” means a facility offering inpatient health care services, nursing care and overnight care for three or more individuals on a twenty-four-hours-per-day, seven-days-per-week basis for the diagnosis and treatment of physical, behavioral or rehabilitative health conditions;

(9)     “nonparticipating provider” means a provider who is not a participating provider;

(10)    “participating provider” means a provider or facility that, under express contract with a health insurance carrier or with a health insurance carrier’s contractor or subcontractor, has agreed to provide health care services to covered persons, with an expectation of receiving payment directly or indirectly from the health insurance carrier, subject to cost sharing;

(11)    “prior authorization” means a pre-service determination made by a health insurance carrier regarding a covered person’s eligibility for health care services, medical necessity, benefit coverage and the location or appropriateness of services, pursuant to the terms of a health benefits plan that the health insurance carrier offers;

(12)    “provider” means a health care professional, hospital or other facility licensed to furnish health care services; and

(13)    “surprise bill”:

(a) means a bill that a nonparticipating provider issues to a covered person for health care services rendered in the following circumstances, in an amount that exceeds the covered person’s cost-sharing obligation that would apply for the same health care services if these services had been provided by a participating provider: 1) emergency care provided by the nonparticipating provider; or 2) health care services, that are not emergency care, rendered by a nonparticipating provider at a participating facility where a: participating provider is unavailable; a nonparticipating provider renders unforeseen services; or a nonparticipating provider renders services for which the covered person has not given specific consent for that nonparticipating provider to render the particular services rendered; and

(b) does not mean a bill: 1) for health care services received by a covered person when a participating provider was available to render the health care services and the covered person knowingly elected to obtain the services from a nonparticipating provider without prior authorization; or 2) received for health care services rendered by a nonparticipating provider to a covered person whose coverage is provided pursuant to a preferred provider plan; provided that the health care services are not provided as emergency care.