00 HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 37(L&C) 01 "An Act relating to collective negotiation by competing physicians with health benefit 02 plans, to health benefit plan contracts, to the application of antitrust laws to agreements 03 involving providers and groups of providers affected by collective negotiations, and to 04 the effect of the collective negotiation provisions on health care providers." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06  * Section 1. AS 23 is amended by adding a new chapter to read: 07 Chapter 50. Collective Negotiation by Physicians. 08 Sec. 23.50.010. Legislative findings. (a) The legislature finds that permitting 09 competing physicians to engage in collective negotiation of certain terms and 10 conditions of contracts with a health benefit plan will benefit competition, so long as 11 the physicians do not engage in an express or implied threat of retaliatory collective 12 action, including boycotts or strikes. 13 (b) The legislature finds that permitting physicians to engage in collective 14 negotiations over fee-related terms may, in some circumstances, yield anti-competitive 01 effects. There are, however, instances in which a health benefit plan dominates the 02 market to the degree that fair negotiations between physicians and the health benefit 03 plan are not possible in the absence of joint action on behalf of the physicians. In 04 those circumstances, the health benefit plan can virtually dictate the terms of the 05 contracts that it offers to physicians. 06 (c) The legislature finds that it is appropriate and necessary to authorize 07 collective negotiations between competing physicians and health benefit plans on fee- 08 related and other issues when the imbalances in bargaining capacity described in this 09 section exist. 10 Sec. 23.50.020. Collective action by competing physicians. (a) Competing 11 physicians may meet and communicate in order to collectively negotiate with a health 12 benefit plan concerning any of the contract terms and conditions described in this 13 subsection. Competing physicians may not engage in a boycott related to these terms 14 and conditions. Competing physicians may meet and communicate concerning 15 (1) physician clinical practice guidelines and coverage criteria; 16 (2) the respective liability of physicians and the health benefit plan for 17 the treatment or lack of treatment of insured or enrolled persons; 18 (3) administrative procedures, including methods and timing of the 19 payment of services to physicians; 20 (4) procedures for the resolution of disputes between the health benefit 21 plan and physicians; 22 (5) patient referral procedures; 23 (6) the formulation and application of reimbursement methodology; 24 (7) quality assurance programs; 25 (8) health service utilization review procedures; and 26 (9) criteria to be used by health benefit plans for the selection and 27 termination of physicians, including whether to engage in selective contracting. 28 (b) An authorized third party that intends to negotiate with a health benefit 29 plan the items identified under (a) of this section shall provide the attorney general 30 with written notice of the intended negotiations before the negotiations begin. 31 (c) In exercising the collective rights granted by (a) of this section, 01 (1) physicians may communicate with each other with respect to the 02 contractual terms and conditions to be negotiated with a health benefit plan; 03 (2) physicians may communicate with an authorized third party 04 regarding the terms and conditions of contracts allowed under this section; 05 (3) the authorized third party is the sole party authorized to negotiate 06 with a health benefit plan on behalf of a defined group of physicians; 07 (4) physicians can be bound by the terms and conditions negotiated by 08 the authorized third party that represents their interests; 09 (5) a health benefit plan communicating or negotiating with the 10 authorized third party may contract with, or offer different contract terms and 11 conditions to, individual competing physicians; 12 (6) an authorized third party may not represent more than 30 percent of 13 the market of practicing physicians for the provision of services in the geographic 14 service area or proposed geographic service area, if the health benefit plan has less 15 than a five percent market share as determined by the number of covered lives as 16 reported by the director of insurance for the most recently completed calendar year or 17 by the actual number of consumers of prepaid comprehensive health services; in this 18 paragraph, "covered lives" means the total number of individuals who are entitled to 19 benefits under the health benefit plan; 20 (7) the attorney general may limit the percentage of practicing 21 physicians represented by an authorized third party; however, the limitation may not 22 be less than 30 percent of the market of practicing physicians in the geographic service 23 area or proposed geographic service area; when determining whether to impose a 24 limitation described under this paragraph, the attorney general shall consider the 25 provisions described under (f), (g), and (h) of this section; this paragraph does not 26 apply if the market of practicing physicians in the geographic service area or proposed 27 geographic service area consists of 40 or fewer individuals; and 28 (8) the authorized third party shall comply with the provisions of (d) of 29 this section. 30 (d) A person acting or proposing to act as an authorized third party under this 31 section shall, 01 (1) before engaging in collective negotiations with a health benefit 02 plan, 03 (A) file with the attorney general the information that identifies 04 the authorized third party, the physicians represented by the third party, the 05 authorized third party's plan of operation, and the authorized third party's 06 procedures to ensure compliance with this section; 07 (B) furnish to the attorney general, for the attorney general's 08 approval, a brief report that identifies the proposed subject matter of the 09 negotiations or discussions with a health benefit plan and that contains an 10 explanation of the efficiencies or benefits that are expected to be achieved 11 through the collective negotiations; the attorney general shall review whether 12 the group of physicians represented by the authorized third party is appropriate 13 to represent the interests involved in the negotiations; the attorney general may 14 not approve the report if the group of physicians is not appropriate to represent 15 the interests involved in the negotiations or if the proposed negotiations exceed 16 the authority granted in this chapter and, if the group is not appropriate or the 17 negotiations exceed the granted authority, shall enter an order prohibiting the 18 collective negotiations from proceeding; the authorized third party shall 19 provide supplemental information to the attorney general as new information 20 becomes available that indicates that the subject matter of negotiations with the 21 health benefit plan has changed or will change; 22 (2) within 14 days after receiving a health benefit plan's decision to 23 decline to negotiate or to terminate negotiations, or within 14 days after requesting 24 negotiations with a health benefit plan that fails to respond within that time, report to 25 the attorney general that negotiations have ended or have been declined; 26 (3) during the negotiation process, provide the attorney general upon 27 the attorney general's request with a copy of all written communications that are 28 between physicians and the health benefit plan, that are relevant to the negotiations, 29 and that are in the possession of the authorized third party; 30 (4) before reporting the results of negotiations with a health benefit 31 plan and before giving physicians an evaluation of any offer made by a health benefit 01 plan, provide to the attorney general, for the attorney general's approval, a copy of all 02 communications to be made to physicians related to the negotiations, discussions, and 03 health benefit plan offers. 04 (e) The attorney general shall either approve or disapprove the contract that 05 was the subject of the collective negotiation within 60 days after receiving the reports 06 required under (d) of this section. If the contract is disapproved, the attorney general 07 shall furnish a written explanation of any deficiencies along with a statement of 08 specific remedial measures that would correct any identified deficiencies. An 09 authorized third party who fails to obtain the attorney general's approval is considered 10 to be acting outside the authority of this section. 11 (f) The attorney general shall approve a collective negotiation contract if 12 (1) the competitive and other benefits of the contract terms outweigh 13 any anticompetitive effects; and 14 (2) the contract terms are consistent with other applicable laws and 15 regulations. 16 (g) The competitive and other benefits of joint negotiations or negotiated 17 provider contract terms must include 18 (1) restoration of the competitive balance in the market for health care 19 services; 20 (2) protections for access to quality patient care; 21 (3) promotion of health care infrastructure and medical advancement; 22 or 23 (4) improved communications between health care providers and 24 health care insurers. 25 (h) When weighing the anticompetitive effects of contract terms, the attorney 26 general shall consider whether the terms 27 (1) provide for excessive payments; or 28 (2) contribute to the escalation of the cost of providing health care 29 services. 30 (i) This section does not authorize competing physicians to act in concert in 31 response to a report issued by an authorized third party related to the authorized third 01 party's discussion or negotiations with a health benefit plan. The authorized third 02 party shall advise the physicians of the provisions of this subsection and shall warn 03 them of the potential for legal action against those who violate state or federal anti- 04 trust laws by exceeding the authority granted under this section. 05 (j) A contract allowed under this section may not exceed a term of five years. 06 (k) The documents relating to a collective negotiation described under this 07 section that are in the possession of the Department of Law are confidential and not 08 open to public inspection. 09 (l) Nothing in this section shall be construed as exempting from the 10 application of the antitrust laws the conduct of providers or negotiations or agreements 11 between providers and a health benefit plan if the purpose or effect of the conduct, 12 negotiations, or agreements would be, directly or indirectly, to exclude, limit the 13 participation or reimbursement of, or otherwise limit the scope of services to be 14 provided by separate or competing classes of providers who practice or seek to 15 practice within the scope of the occupational licenses held by the providers. 16 (m) A contract entered into under this section must be consistent with 17 AS 21.36.090(d). 18 (n) Nothing in this section shall be construed to make any conduct by 19 providers unlawful if the conduct was lawful before the effective date of this Act. 20 (o) In this section, 21 (1) "geographic service area" means the geographic area of the 22 physicians seeking to jointly negotiate; 23 (2) "provider" has the meaning given in AS 21.36.090(d). 24 Sec. 23.50.030. Fee for registration of authorized third parties. (a) The 25 attorney general shall adopt regulations that establish the amount and manner of 26 payment of a registration fee for authorized third parties. The attorney general shall 27 establish the fee level so that the total amount of fees collected from authorized third 28 parties approximately equals the actual regulatory costs for the oversight of joint 29 negotiations between physicians and health benefit plans. The attorney general shall 30 annually review the fee level to determine whether the regulatory costs are 31 approximately equal to fee collections. If the review indicates that the fee collections 01 and regulatory costs are not approximately equal, the attorney general shall calculate 02 fee adjustments and adopt regulations under this subsection to implement the 03 adjustments. In January of each year, the attorney general shall report on the fee level 04 and revisions for the previous year under this subsection to the office of management 05 and budget. 06 (b) In this section, "regulatory costs" means costs of the Department of Law 07 that are attributable to oversight of joint negotiations between physicians and health 08 benefit plans. 09 Sec. 23.50.040. Regulations. The attorney general may adopt regulations 10 necessary to implement this chapter. 11 Sec. 23.50.099. Definitions. In this chapter, 12 (1) "authorized third party" means a person authorized by the 13 physicians to negotiate on their behalf with a health benefit plan under this chapter; 14 (2) "health benefit plan" means a health care insurer as defined in 15 AS 21.54.500, but does not include a multiple employer welfare arrangement or a self- 16 insured health benefit plan. 17 * Sec. 2. AS 45.50.572 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 18 (k) AS 45.50.562 - 45.50.596 do not forbid the existence or operation of 19 organizations of physicians acting in accordance with AS 23.50, or forbid or restrain 20 members of those organizations from lawfully carrying out the legitimate objectives of 21 them; nor are these organizations or members illegal combinations or conspiracies in 22 restraint of trade under the provisions of AS 45.50.562 - 45.50.596.