Public Act 0967 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5079 Enrolled LRB096 18956 RPM 34344 b

Public Act 096-0967

AN ACT concerning insurance.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Health Carrier External Review Act is amended by changing Section 35 as follows:

(215 ILCS 180/35)

(This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a delayed effective date)

Sec. 35. Standard external review.

(a) Within 4 months after the date of receipt of a notice of an adverse determination or final adverse determination, a covered person or the covered person's authorized representative may file a request for an external review with the health carrier.

(b) Within 5 business days following the date of receipt of the external review request, the health carrier shall complete a preliminary review of the request to determine whether:

(1) the individual is or was a covered person in the health benefit plan at the time the health care service was requested or at the time the health care service was provided;

(2) the health care service that is the subject of the adverse determination or the final adverse determination is a covered service under the covered person's health benefit plan, but the health carrier has determined that the health care service is not covered because it does not meet the health carrier's requirements for medical necessity, appropriateness, health care setting, level of care, or effectiveness;

(3) the covered person has exhausted the health carrier's internal grievance process as set forth in this Act;

(4) for appeals relating to a determination based on treatment being experimental or investigational, the requested health care service or treatment that is the subject of the adverse determination or final adverse determination is a covered benefit under the covered person's health benefit plan except for the health carrier's determination that the service or treatment is experimental or investigational for a particular medical condition and is not explicitly listed as an excluded benefit under the covered person's health benefit plan with the health carrier and that the covered person's health care provider, who ordered or provided the services in question and who is licensed under the Medical Practice Act of 1987 is a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, has certified that one of the following situations is applicable:

(A) standard health care services or treatments have not been effective in improving the condition of the covered person;

(B) standard health care services or treatments are not medically appropriate for the covered person;

(C) there is no available standard health care service or treatment covered by the health carrier that is more beneficial than the recommended or requested health care service or treatment;

(D) the health care service or treatment is likely to be more beneficial to the covered person, in the health care provider's opinion, than any available standard health care services or treatments; or

(E) that scientifically valid studies using accepted protocols demonstrate that the health care service or treatment requested is likely to be more beneficial to the covered person than any available standard health care services or treatments; and

(5) the covered person has provided all the information and forms required to process an external review, as specified in this Act.

(c) Within one business day after completion of the preliminary review, the health carrier shall notify the covered person and, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative in writing whether the request is complete and eligible for external review. If the request:

(1) is not complete, the health carrier shall inform the covered person and, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative in writing and include in the notice what information or materials are required by this Act to make the request complete; or

(2) is not eligible for external review, the health carrier shall inform the covered person and, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative in writing and include in the notice the reasons for its ineligibility.

The notice of initial determination of ineligibility shall include a statement informing the covered person and, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative that a health carrier's initial determination that the external review request is ineligible for review may be appealed to the Director by filing a complaint with the Director.

Notwithstanding a health carrier's initial determination that the request is ineligible for external review, the Director may determine that a request is eligible for external review and require that it be referred for external review. In making such determination, the Director's decision shall be in accordance with the terms of the covered person's health benefit plan and shall be subject to all applicable provisions of this Act.

(d) Whenever a request is eligible for external review the health carrier shall, within 5 business days:

(1) assign an independent review organization from the list of approved independent review organizations compiled and maintained by the Director; and

(2) notify in writing the covered person and, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative of the request's eligibility and acceptance for external review and the name of the independent review organization.

The health carrier shall include in the notice provided to the covered person and, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative a statement that the covered person or the covered person's authorized representative may, within 5 business days following the date of receipt of the notice provided pursuant to item (2) of this subsection (d), submit in writing to the assigned independent review organization additional information that the independent review organization shall consider when conducting the external review. The independent review organization is not required to, but may, accept and consider additional information submitted after 5 business days.

(e) The assignment of an approved independent review organization to conduct an external review in accordance with this Section shall be made from those approved independent review organizations qualified to conduct external review as required by Sections 50 and 55 of this Act.

(f) Upon assignment of an independent review organization, the health carrier or its designee utilization review organization shall, within 5 business days, provide to the assigned independent review organization the documents and any information considered in making the adverse determination or final adverse determination; in such cases, the following provisions shall apply:

(1) Except as provided in item (2) of this subsection (f), failure by the health carrier or its utilization review organization to provide the documents and information within the specified time frame shall not delay the conduct of the external review.

(2) If the health carrier or its utilization review organization fails to provide the documents and information within the specified time frame, the assigned independent review organization may terminate the external review and make a decision to reverse the adverse determination or final adverse determination.

(3) Within one business day after making the decision to terminate the external review and make a decision to reverse the adverse determination or final adverse determination under item (2) of this subsection (f), the independent review organization shall notify the health carrier, the covered person and, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative, of its decision to reverse the adverse determination.

(g) Upon receipt of the information from the health carrier or its utilization review organization, the assigned independent review organization shall review all of the information and documents and any other information submitted in writing to the independent review organization by the covered person and the covered person's authorized representative.

(h) Upon receipt of any information submitted by the covered person or the covered person's authorized representative, the independent review organization shall forward the information to the health carrier within 1 business day.

(1) Upon receipt of the information, if any, the health carrier may reconsider its adverse determination or final adverse determination that is the subject of the external review.

(2) Reconsideration by the health carrier of its adverse determination or final adverse determination shall not delay or terminate the external review.

(3) The external review may only be terminated if the health carrier decides, upon completion of its reconsideration, to reverse its adverse determination or final adverse determination and provide coverage or payment for the health care service that is the subject of the adverse determination or final adverse determination. In such cases, the following provisions shall apply:

(A) Within one business day after making the decision to reverse its adverse determination or final adverse determination, the health carrier shall notify the covered person and if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative, and the assigned independent review organization in writing of its decision.

(B) Upon notice from the health carrier that the health carrier has made a decision to reverse its adverse determination or final adverse determination, the assigned independent review organization shall terminate the external review.

(i) In addition to the documents and information provided by the health carrier or its utilization review organization and the covered person and the covered person's authorized representative, if any, the independent review organization, to the extent the information or documents are available and the independent review organization considers them appropriate, shall consider the following in reaching a decision:

(1) the covered person's pertinent medical records;

(2) the covered person's health care provider's recommendation;

(3) consulting reports from appropriate health care providers and other documents submitted by the health carrier, the covered person, the covered person's authorized representative, or the covered person's treating provider;

(4) the terms of coverage under the covered person's health benefit plan with the health carrier to ensure that the independent review organization's decision is not contrary to the terms of coverage under the covered person's health benefit plan with the health carrier;

(5) the most appropriate practice guidelines, which shall include applicable evidence-based standards and may include any other practice guidelines developed by the federal government, national or professional medical societies, boards, and associations;

(6) any applicable clinical review criteria developed and used by the health carrier or its designee utilization review organization; and

(7) the opinion of the independent review organization's clinical reviewer or reviewers after considering items (1) through (6) of this subsection (i) to the extent the information or documents are available and the clinical reviewer or reviewers considers the information or documents appropriate; and

(8) for a denial of coverage based on a determination that the health care service or treatment recommended or requested is experimental or investigational, whether and to what extent:

(A) the recommended or requested health care service or treatment has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, if applicable, for the condition;

(B) medical or scientific evidence or evidence-based standards demonstrate that the expected benefits of the recommended or requested health care service or treatment is more likely than not to be beneficial to the covered person than any available standard health care service or treatment and the adverse risks of the recommended or requested health care service or treatment would not be substantially increased over those of available standard health care services or treatments; or

(C) the terms of coverage under the covered person's health benefit plan with the health carrier to ensure that the health care service or treatment that is the subject of the opinion is experimental or investigational would otherwise be covered under the terms of coverage of the covered person's health benefit plan with the health carrier.

(j) Within 5 days after the date of receipt of all necessary information, the assigned independent review organization shall provide written notice of its decision to uphold or reverse the adverse determination or the final adverse determination to the health carrier, the covered person and, if applicable, the covered person's authorized representative. In reaching a decision, the assigned independent review organization is not bound by any claim determinations reached prior to the submission of information to the independent review organization. In such cases, the following provisions shall apply:

(1) The independent review organization shall include in the notice:

(A) a general description of the reason for the request for external review;

(B) the date the independent review organization received the assignment from the health carrier to conduct the external review;

(C) the time period during which the external review was conducted;

(D) references to the evidence or documentation, including the evidence-based standards, considered in reaching its decision;

(E) the date of its decision; and

(F) the principal reason or reasons for its decision, including what applicable, if any, evidence-based standards that were a basis for its decision.

(2) For reviews of experimental or investigational treatments, the notice shall include the following information:

(A) a description of the covered person's medical condition;

(B) a description of the indicators relevant to whether there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the recommended or requested health care service or treatment is more likely than not to be more beneficial to the covered person than any available standard health care services or treatments and the adverse risks of the recommended or requested health care service or treatment would not be substantially increased over those of available standard health care services or treatments;

(C) a description and analysis of any medical or scientific evidence considered in reaching the opinion;

(D) a description and analysis of any evidence-based standards;

(E) whether the recommended or requested health care service or treatment has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, for the condition;

(F) whether medical or scientific evidence or evidence-based standards demonstrate that the expected benefits of the recommended or requested health care service or treatment is more likely than not to be more beneficial to the covered person than any available standard health care service or treatment and the adverse risks of the recommended or requested health care service or treatment would not be substantially increased over those of available standard health care services or treatments; and

(G) the written opinion of the clinical reviewer, including the reviewer's recommendation as to whether the recommended or requested health care service or treatment should be covered and the rationale for the reviewer's recommendation.

(3) In reaching a decision, the assigned independent review organization is not bound by any decisions or conclusions reached during the health carrier's utilization review process or the health carrier's internal grievance or appeals process.

(4) Upon receipt of a notice of a decision reversing the adverse determination or final adverse determination, the health carrier immediately shall approve the coverage that was the subject of the adverse determination or final adverse determination.

(Source: P.A. 96-857, eff. 7-1-10.)

Section 95. No acceleration or delay. Where this Act makes changes in a statute that is represented in this Act by text that is not yet or no longer in effect (for example, a Section represented by multiple versions), the use of that text does not accelerate or delay the taking effect of (i) the changes made by this Act or (ii) provisions derived from any other Public Act.