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:
Solvency standards for Medicare provider-sponsored organizations (PSOs) are divided into three parts: (1) the initial stage, (2) the ongoing stage, and (3) insolvency. In the initial stage, prior CMS approval, a Medicare PSO typically must have a minimum net worth of:
Indigo Health Plan advertised a specific individual health insurance policy through a direct mail advertisement that provided detailed information about the product. In order to comply with the NAIC Model Rules Governing Advertisements of Accident and Sickness Insurance, Indigo must disclose whether the advertised policy contains any exceptions, reductions, or limitations. Thus, Indigo disclosed in the advertisement that one policy provision limits coverage for dental exams to $50 per exam and to one exam per calendar year.This information indicates that, with respect to the definitions in the NAIC Model Rules, Indigo's advertisement is an example of an:
Regulatory and legislative bodies are among the important environmental forces in the health plan industry. The following statements are about such regulation and legislation. Select the answer choice that contains the correct statement.
In the paragraph below, a statement contains two pairs of terms enclosed in parentheses. Determine which term in each pair correctly completes the statement. Then select the answer choice containing the two terms that you have chosen. Every employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) must distribute a summary plan description (SPD) to participants within (90/120) days after the date on which the plan is adopted or made effective. Thereafter, if the plan is amended, a new SPD must be distributed every (5/10) years.
