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- New Hampshire Pathologists Advocate to Uphold State Out-of-Network Law
On February 2, the New Hampshire Society of Pathologists (NHSP), with support from the CAP, testified during a state Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing to amend Senate Bill 287, which would align the state’s out-of-network law with the federal No Surprises Act. The NHSP and the CAP have actively worked with the New Hampshire Medical Society (NHMS) on the bill to amplify pathologists’ concerns.
Under New Hampshire’s law, the Commissioner of Insurance has exclusive jurisdiction to determine if payment for an out-of-network provider is commercially reasonable in a dispute between a health care provider and a health insurance carrier. The NHSP and the CAP successfully advocated for New Hampshire’s balance billing and network adequacy law in 2018.
The NHSP urged the committee to uphold the New Hampshire law by not utilizing the qualifying payment amount to determine commercially reasonable payment for out-of-network providers and provide greater clarity on the adoption of rules relating to price transparency so that requirements are placed on health carriers. This would alleviate administrative burdens on physicians. Additionally, the NHSP advocated to scale back the Commissioner’s rulemaking authority to enforce the No Surprises Act and defer the effective date of the legislation to a later date in light of federal litigation on the No Surprises Act.
In the coming weeks, the NHSP will continue to partner with the NHMS and other stakeholder groups to best align the New Hampshire out-of-network law with the No Surprises Act.