Virginia Code 38.2-3445.04: Transparency.
A. The Commission, in consultation with health carriers, health care providers, and consumers, shall develop standard template language for a notice of consumer rights notifying consumers of the following:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 38.2-3445.04
- Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
1. The prohibition against balance billing is applicable to health benefit plans issued by health carriers in Virginia and self-funded group health plans issued by entities that elect to participate pursuant to § 38.2-3445.01.
2. Consumers cannot be balance billed for the health care services described in § 38.2-3445.01 and will receive the protections provided for in § 38.2-3445.01.
3. Consumers may be balance billed for health care services under circumstances other than those described in subsection A of § 38.2-3445.01 or if they are enrolled in a health plan to which the provisions of § 38.2-3445.01 do not apply and steps to take if the consumer is balance billed.
4. Consumers may contact the Commission if they believe they have been balance billed in violation of § 38.2-3445.01.
5. The relevant contact information for the Commission.
B. The Commission shall determine, by regulation, when and in what format health carriers, health care providers, and health care facilities shall provide consumers with the notice required by this section.
C. A health care provider shall post the following information on its website, if one is available, or, if one is not available, provide to a consumer upon written or oral request:
1. The listing of the carrier health plan provider networks with which the provider contracts or with which the facility is an in-network provider; and
2. The notice of consumer rights required by subsection A.
Posting or otherwise providing the information required in this subsection shall not relieve a health care provider of its obligation to comply with the provisions of § 38.2-3445.01.
D. Not less than 30 days prior to executing a contract with a carrier, a health care facility shall provide the carrier with a list of the nonemployed providers or provider groups contracted to provide surgical or ancillary services at the facility. The facility shall notify the carrier within 30 days of a removal from or addition to such list and shall provide an updated list of nonemployed providers and provider groups within 14 calendar days of a request for an updated list by a carrier.
E. An in-network provider shall submit accurate information to a carrier regarding the provider’s network status in a timely manner, consistent with the terms of the contract between the provider and the carrier.
F. A carrier shall update its website and provider directory no later than 30 days after the addition or termination of a provider.
G. A carrier shall provide an enrollee with (i) a clear description of the health plan’s out-of-network health benefits, (ii) the notice of consumer rights required by subsection A, and (iii) notification that if the enrollee receives services from an out-of-network-provider, under circumstances other than those described in subsection A of § 38.2-3445.01, the enrollee shall have the financial responsibility for the applicable services provided outside the health plan’s network in excess of applicable cost-sharing amounts and that the enrollee may be responsible for any costs in excess of those allowed by the health plan.