Health Insurance Privacy (H 5556, S 580)

In an effort to protect the medical privacy of individual members on an insurance plan, this legislation would have required that explanation of benefit documents be sent to the member that they concern, rather than the holder of the plan. We supported this bill, noting that guaranteed patient privacy would empower members of the plan to seek the medical attention they need without worrying about their information being sent to someone else. A subsequent version of the Senate bill was amended to instead be a resolution requring the Department of Health to develop regulations with ways that providers can more clearly explain to a patient their explanation of benefits and how to opt-out of them, or how they can create EOBs that are nondisclosing. This resolution passed the Senate and is in effect, but the House legislation died in committee.