33-32-211. Procedures for standard utilization review and benefit determinations -- notices. (1) A health insurance issuer shall establish written procedures and clinical review criteria for conducting standard utilization reviews and making benefit determinations on requests for benefits submitted to the health insurance issuer by covered persons or their authorized representatives. The written procedures must also include provisions for notifying covered persons or, if applicable, their authorized representatives of the health insurance issuer's determinations with respect to these requests within the timeframes specified in this section.

(2) (a) Subject to subsection (2)(c), for prospective review determinations, a health insurance issuer shall make the determination and notify the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative of the determination, whether the health insurance issuer certifies the provision of the benefit or not, within a reasonable period of time appropriate to the covered person's medical condition. The notification must be made not later than 7 business days after the date the health insurance issuer receives the request or not later than 7 business days after the health insurance issuer receives all information under subsection (2)(d) necessary to make a determination.

(b) If the determination is an adverse determination, the health insurance issuer shall provide notification of the adverse determination in writing in accordance with subsection (8).

(c) The time period for making a determination and notifying the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative of the determination pursuant to subsection (2)(a) may be extended one time by the health insurance issuer for up to 7 business days if the health insurance issuer:

(i) determines that an extension is necessary due to matters beyond the health insurance issuer's control; and

(ii) notifies the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative, prior to the expiration of the initial 7-business-day period, of the circumstances requiring the extension of time and of the date by which the health insurance issuer expects to make a determination.

(d) If the extension under subsection (2)(c) is necessary because of the failure of the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative to submit information necessary to reach a determination on the request, the notice of extension must:

(i) describe specifically the required information necessary to complete the request; and

(ii) give the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative at least 45 days after the date of receipt of the notice to provide the specified information.

(3) (a) If the health insurance issuer receives from a covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative a prospective review request that fails to meet the health insurance issuer's filing procedures, the health insurance issuer shall notify the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative of this failure and provide in the notice any information regarding the proper procedures to be followed for filing a request.

(b) The notice required under subsection (3)(a) must be provided as soon as possible but not later than 3 days after the date of the failure. The health insurance issuer may provide the notice orally or, if requested by the covered person or the covered person's authorized representative, in writing or electronically.

(c) To qualify for the provisions of this subsection (3) related to a failed filing procedure, the communication must:

(i) have been sent by a covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative and received by a person or an organizational unit of the health insurance issuer responsible for handling benefit matters; and

(ii) refer to a specific covered person, a specific medical condition or symptom, and a specific health care service, treatment, or health care provider for which certification is being requested.

(4) For concurrent review determinations, if a health insurance issuer has certified an ongoing course of treatment to be provided over a period of time or a specified number of treatments:

(a) any reduction or termination by the health insurance issuer during the course of treatment before the end of the period or the specified number of treatments, other than by health plan amendment or termination of the health plan, constitutes an adverse determination; and

(b) the health insurance issuer shall notify the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative of the adverse determination in accordance with subsection (8) at a time sufficiently in advance of the reduction or termination to allow the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative to:

(i) file a grievance requesting a review of the adverse determination pursuant to Title 33, chapter 32, parts 3 and 4; and

(ii) obtain a determination with respect to the review of the adverse determination before the benefit is reduced or terminated.

(5) The health care service or treatment that is the subject of the adverse determination must be continued without liability to the covered person pending a determination under the internal review request made pursuant to Title 33, chapter 32, part 3.

(6) (a) For retrospective review determinations, a health insurance issuer shall make the determination no later than 30 days after the date of receiving the benefit request.

(b) If the determination is an adverse determination, the health insurance issuer shall provide notice of the adverse determination to the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative in accordance with subsection (8).

(c) The time period for making a determination and notifying the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative of the determination pursuant to subsection (6)(a) may be extended one time by the health insurance issuer for up to 15 days if the health insurance issuer:

(i) determines that an extension is necessary due to matters beyond the health insurance issuer's control; and

(ii) notifies the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative, prior to the expiration of the initial 30-day period, of the circumstances requiring the extension of time and of the date by which the health insurance issuer expects to make a determination.

(d) If the extension under subsection (6)(c) is necessary because of the failure of the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative to submit information necessary to reach a determination on the request, the notice of extension must:

(i) describe specifically the information required to complete the request; and

(ii) give the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative at least 45 days after the date of receipt of the notice to provide the specified information.

(7) (a) For purposes of this section, the period within which a determination must be made begins on the date the request is received by the health insurance issuer in accordance with the health insurance issuer's procedures, established pursuant to 33-32-207, for filing a request. The date the request is received by the health insurance issuer must be counted without regard to whether all of the information necessary to make the determination accompanies the filing of the request.

(b) If the period for making the determination under this section is extended due to the failure of the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative to submit the information necessary to make the determination, the period for making the determination is counted from the date on which the health insurance issuer sends the notification of the extension to the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative until the earlier of:

(i) the date on which the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative responds to the request for additional information; or

(ii) the date on which the specified information was to have been submitted.

(c) If the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative fails to submit the information before the end of the extension period, as specified in this section, the health insurance issuer may deny the certification of the requested benefit.

(8) A notification of an adverse determination under this section must, in a manner calculated to be understood by the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative, set forth:

(a) information sufficient to identify the benefit request or claim involved and, if applicable, the date of service, the health care provider, and the claim amount;

(b) 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 to the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative 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 Title 33, chapter 32, part 3, or a request for external review as outlined in Title 33, chapter 32, part 4.

(c) the specific rationale behind the 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 denying the benefit request or claim;

(d) a reference to the specific plan provision on which the determination is based;

(e) a description of any additional material or information necessary for the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative to complete the benefit request, including an explanation of why the material or information is necessary to complete the request;

(f) a description of the health insurance issuer's grievance procedures established pursuant to Title 33, chapter 32, part 3, including any time limits applicable to those procedures;

(g) a copy of any internal rule, guideline, protocol, or other similar criteria that the health insurance issuer may have relied on to make the 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 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.

(h) an explanation of the scientific or clinical judgment for making the adverse determination if the adverse determination is based on a medical necessity or experimental or investigational treatment or similar exclusion or limit. Alternatively, the health insurance issuer may provide a statement that an explanation will be provided to the covered person free of charge on request. The explanation under this subsection (8)(h) must apply the terms of the health plan to the covered person's medical circumstances.

(i) a statement explaining the availability of further assistance from the commissioner's office and the right of the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative to contact the commissioner's office at any time for assistance or, on completion of the health insurance issuer's grievance procedure and the external review process as provided under Title 33, chapter 32, parts 3 and 4, to file a civil suit in a court of competent jurisdiction. The statement must include contact information for the commissioner's office.

(9) (a) A health insurance issuer shall provide the notice required under this section in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner as required in accordance with federal regulations, including 45 CFR 147.136(e), and rules adopted pursuant to Title 33, chapter 32, part 3.

(b) To satisfy the provisions of subsection (9)(a), the health insurance issuer shall, at a minimum:

(i) provide oral language services, such as a telephone assistance hotline, that include answering questions in any applicable non-English language and providing assistance with filing benefit requests, claims, and appeals in any applicable non-English language;

(ii) provide, upon request, a notice in any applicable non-English language; and

(iii) include in the English version of the notice a prominently displayed statement in any applicable non-English language clearly indicating how to access the language services provided by the health insurance issuer.

(c) For purposes of this subsection (9), with respect to any United States county to which a notice is sent, a non-English language is an applicable non-English language if 10% or more of the population residing in the county is literate only in the same non-English language, as determined in federal guidance.

(10) If the adverse determination is a recission, the health insurance issuer shall provide, in addition to any applicable disclosures required under this section, in a notice sent at least 30 days in advance of implementing the rescission decision:

(a) clear identification of the alleged fraudulent act, practice, or omission or the intentional misrepresentation of material fact;

(b) an explanation of why the act, practice, or omission was fraudulent or was an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact;

(c) the date when the advance notice period ends and the date to which the coverage is to be retroactively rescinded;

(d) notice that the covered person or, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative may immediately file a grievance with the health insurance issuer requesting a review of the rescission; and

(e) a description of the health insurance issuer's grievance procedures, including any time limits applicable to these procedures.

(11) A health insurance issuer may provide the notices required under this section in writing or electronically.