1997-05-09                     Senate Journal                      Page 1925
SB 122                                                                       
Senator Leman moved and asked unanimous consent for the adoption               
of the following Letter of Intent.                                             
                                                                               
                                Letter of Intent                               
                                      for                                      
                              SENATE BILL No. 122                              
                                                                               
AS 21.36.090(d) and Section 4, ch. 39, SLA 1993, require that no               
person may practice unfair discrimination against certain health               
care providers.  However, Alaska statutes are not specific in their            
distinction between fair and unfair discrimination.                            
                                                                               
It is the intent of the Legislature that the Division of Insurance             
develop regulations by January 15, 1998, to define the distinction             
between fair and unfair discrimination as those terms relate to                
the provision of services covered under a group health insurance               
policy that extends coverage on an expense incurred basis, or under            
a group service or indemnity type contract issued by a nonprofit               
corporation, if the service is within the scope of a providers                 
occupational license, taking into account that unfair discrimination           
does not include:                                                              
		a) requirements imposed by an insurer for purposes                           
of utilization review as defined by the Division;                              
		b)  requirements imposed by an insurer for purposes                          
of cost containment, as defined by the Division; and                           
		c)  requirements imposed by an insurer for purposes                          
of setting standards of clinically appropriate health care services,           
including professionally written screening procedures, protocols and           
practice guidelines appropriate to the specific profession providing           
the service as determined by an independent peer review.                       
                                                                               
Objections were heard.                                                         
                                                                               
The question being: Shall the Letter of Intent be adopted?  The                
roll was taken with the following result: