HB271 Alabama 2015 Session

Under current law, a health insurer or vendor may initiate or change the method of payment to a health care provider to payment through a credit card, exposing the health care provider to unknown charges, without the health care provider having actual prior knowledge of the credit card payment method, or the language in the contract that allowed the initiation of or change to a credit card payment

This bill would establish that any contract between a health insurer or its contracted vendor and a health care provider for the provision of health care services to a plan enrollee shall not contain restrictions on methods of payment from the health insurer or vendor to the health care provider in situations in which the only acceptable payment method is a credit card payment

This bill would establish that prior to initiating payments, a health insurer or its contracted vendor must properly notify the health care provider

This bill would establish that any clause contained in a contract in violation of these provisions shall be void

Relating to health care contracts; to add Section 27-1-17.1 to Title 27, Chapter 1, Code of Alabama 1975, to provide that any contract issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2015, between a health insurer or its contracted vendor and a health care provider for the provision of health care services to a plan enrollee shall not restrict payments to only credit card payments; to provide that prior to initiating or changing payments to a provider using electronic funds transfer payments, to only credit card or virtual credit card payments, a health insurer or its contracted vendor must meet certain requirements to notify the health care provider of all fees associated with a particular payment method, provide clear instructions to health care provider as to how to opt out of the payment method at any time following the initial agreement to this payment method, and obtain written consent from the health care provider; and to provide that any clause in a contract in violation of the provisions of this section shall be void.