33-32-308. Grievances involving adverse determination. (1) Within 180 days after the date of receipt of a notice of an adverse determination sent pursuant to Title 33, chapter 32, part 2, a covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative may file a grievance with the health insurance issuer requesting a review of the adverse determination.

(2) The health insurance issuer shall provide the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative with the name, address, and telephone number of a person or organizational unit designated to coordinate the review on behalf of the health insurance issuer.

(3) (a) In providing for a review under this section, the health insurance issuer shall ensure that the review meets the requirements of this section and is conducted in a manner that ensures the independence and impartiality of the individuals involved in making the review decision.

(b) To ensure the independence and impartiality of the individuals involved in making the review decision, the health insurance issuer may not make hiring, compensation, termination, promotion, or other similar decisions related to any of those individuals based on the likelihood that the individual will support the denial of benefits.

(4) (a) In the case of an adverse determination involving utilization review, the health insurance issuer shall designate one or more appropriate physicians or health care professionals of the same licensure to review the adverse determination. A physician or health care professional of the same licensure may not have been involved in the initial adverse determination.

(b) In designating an appropriate physician or health care professional of the same licensure pursuant to subsection (4)(a), the health insurance issuer shall ensure that if more than one physician or health care professional of the same licensure is involved in the review, a majority of the individuals reviewing the adverse determination are health care professionals who have appropriate expertise.

(5) In conducting a review under subsection (4), each physician or health care professional of the same licensure shall take into consideration all comments, documents, records, and other information regarding the request for services submitted by the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative without regard to whether the information was submitted or considered in making the initial adverse determination.

(6) (a) A covered person does not have the right to attend or to have a representative in attendance at the review, but the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative is entitled to:

(i) submit written comments, documents, records, and other material relating to the request for benefits for the reviewer or reviewers to consider when conducting the review; and

(ii) receive from the health insurance issuer, on request and free of charge, reasonable access to and copies of all documents, records, and other information relevant to the covered person's request for benefits.

(b) For the purposes of subsections (6)(a) and (11)(f)(iii), the term "relevant" in relation to a document, record, or other information related to a covered person's request for benefits means the document, record, or other information:

(i) was relied on in making the benefit determination;

(ii) was submitted, considered, or generated in the course of making the adverse determination without regard to whether the document, record, or other information was relied on in making the benefit determination;

(iii) was used to demonstrate that in making the benefit determination, the health insurance issuer or its designated representatives consistently applied to the covered person the required administrative procedures and safeguards used for other similarly situated covered persons; or

(iv) constituted a statement of policy or guidance with respect to the health plan concerning the denied health care service or treatment for the covered person's diagnosis without regard to whether the advice or statement was relied on in making the benefit determination.

(7) The health insurance issuer shall disclose the provisions of subsection (6) to the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative, in writing:

(a) in the notice of adverse determination that is the subject of the grievance; or

(b) in a separate notice sent within 3 working days after the date of receipt of the grievance.

(8) For the purposes of calculating the time period within which a determination must be made and noticed under subsection (9), the time period begins on the date the request for a grievance review is filed with the health insurance issuer in accordance with the health insurance issuer's procedures for filing requests established pursuant to 33-32-307 without regard to whether all of the information necessary to make the determination accompanies the filing.

(9) (a) A health insurance issuer shall notify and issue a decision with respect to a grievance requesting a review of an adverse determination involving a prospective review or a retrospective review request. The notification must be in writing or sent electronically to the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative.

(b) The health insurance issuer shall issue a decision and send notification as provided in this section within a reasonable period of time that is appropriate considering the covered person's medical condition but no later than 30 days in the case of a prospective review or 60 days in the case of a retrospective review after the date on which the health insurance issuer received the grievance request for the review made pursuant to subsection (1).

(10) Prior to issuing a decision or final adverse determination in accordance with the timeframe provided in subsection (9) and sufficiently in advance of the required date for a decision or final adverse determination to allow the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative a reasonable opportunity to respond prior to the date of the decision or final adverse determination, the health insurance issuer shall provide free of charge to the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative:

(a) any new or additional relevant evidence relied on or generated by the health insurance issuer or at the health insurance issuer's direction in connection with the grievance; and

(b) in relation to the issuance and notice of a final adverse determination based on new or additional rationale, the new or additional rationale.

(11) The decision issued pursuant to subsection (9) must specify in a manner calculated to be understood by the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative the following:

(a) the titles and qualifying credentials of each physician or health care professional of the same licensure participating in the review process;

(b) information sufficient to identify the claim involved with respect to the grievance, including, as applicable, the date of service, the health care provider, and the claim amount;

(c) a statement describing the availability, upon request, of the diagnosis code and its corresponding meaning and the treatment code and its corresponding meaning. On receiving a request for a diagnosis or treatment code, the health insurance issuer shall provide the information as soon as practicable. A health insurance issuer may not consider a request for the diagnosis code and treatment information, in itself, to be a request to file a grievance for review of an adverse determination pursuant to this part or a request for external review as outlined in Title 33, chapter 32, part 4.

(d) a statement from the physicians or health care professionals of the same licensure participating in the review of their understanding of the covered person's grievance;

(e) the decision of the physicians or health care professionals of the same licensure conducting the review, provided in clear terms, and the contract basis or medical rationale on which the decision was based, provided in sufficient detail for the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative to respond further to the health insurance issuer's position;

(f) a reference to the evidence or documentation used as the basis for the decision. The information required under this subsection (11)(f) must also include for a review decision issued pursuant to subsection (9) that upholds an adverse determination:

(i) all specific reasons that uphold the final internal adverse determination, including the denial code and its corresponding meaning, as well as a description of the health insurance issuer's standard, if any, that was used in reaching the denial;

(ii) the reference to the specific plan provisions on which the adverse determination is based;

(iii) a statement that the covered person is entitled to receive, on request and free of charge, reasonable access to and copies of all documents, records, and other information relevant to the covered person's benefit request;

(iv) a copy of any specific rule, guideline, protocol, or other similar criteria that the health insurance issuer may have relied on to make the final adverse determination. Alternatively, the health insurance issuer may provide a statement that a specific rule, guideline, protocol, or other similar criteria was relied on to make the final adverse determination and that a copy of the rule, guideline, protocol, or other similar criteria will be provided free of charge to the covered person on request;

(v) an explanation of the scientific or clinical judgment used for making the adverse determination if the final adverse determination is based on a medical necessity or experimental or investigational treatment or similar exclusion or limit. The explanation must apply the terms of the health plan to the covered person's medical circumstances. Alternatively, the health insurance issuer may provide a statement that an explanation will be provided to the covered person free of charge on request.

(vi) instructions for requesting all of the following that are applicable:

(A) a copy of the rule, guideline, protocol, or other similar criteria relied on in making the final adverse determination in accordance with subsection (11)(f)(iv); or

(B) the written statement of the scientific or clinical rationale for the final adverse determination in accordance with subsection (11)(f)(v);

(vii) a statement, if applicable, indicating:

(A) a description of the procedures for obtaining an independent external review of the final adverse determination pursuant to Title 33, chapter 32, part 4; and

(B) the covered person's right to bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction;

(viii) the following statement, if applicable:

"You and your plan may have other voluntary alternative dispute resolution options, such as mediation. One way to find out what may be available is to contact your state insurance commissioner."

(ix) notice of the covered person's right to contact the commissioner's office for further assistance on any claim, grievance, or appeal at any time, including the telephone number and address of the commissioner's office. The notice under this subsection (11)(f)(ix) must be provided in accordance with federal regulations and as provided in 33-32-211(9).