ATLANTA (December 21, 2015) | The Senate Consumer and Provider Protection Act Study Committee, chaired by Sen. Dean Burke (R-Bainbridge), released the final report and committee recommendations Monday. The Committee consisted of Sens. Charlie Bethel (R- Dalton), Burt Jones (R- Jackson), and Renee Unterman (R- Buford), as well as industry experts John C. Crew, Strategic Healthcare Partner; Richard Novak, Cigna; Manoj Shah, MD, Medical Association of Georgia; Richard Smith, DDS, Georgia Dental Association; Angela Waller, RDH, Tift Regional Dental Group; Cindy Zeldin, Georgian for a Healthy Furture.
The Committee held four meetings throughout the fall to examine the current practices and the need for regulation of rental networks and all-products clauses. In addition, they studied the incidence and prevalence of both unilateral revisions in contracts with healthcare providers and incorrect data relating to network adequacy. Throughout the four meetings the Committee heard testimony from healthcare provider network experts. After examining the information collected, the Committee provided several recommendations to improve current healthcare practices for both consumers and providers including:
- Codify a more complete definition of rental or “shadow” networks and further define the powers of the Georgia Department of Insurance
- Increase dialog between consumers and providers and keep the citizens of Georgia’s health and financial well-being as the focus
- Investigate mechanisms to improve financial stability of the provider network in Georgia
- Review the model of legislation recently promulgated by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners concerning the Georgia consumer’s need for healthcare provider network adequacy, network transparency and adequate and up to date network directories
For more information and to review the full report of the study committee: http://www.senate.ga.gov/sro/Documents/StudyCommRpts/2015ConsumerProviderProtectionActFinal.pdf
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For Immediate Release:
December 21, 2015
For Information Contact:
Jennifer Yarber, Director
Brittany Wagner, Communications Specialist
brittany.wagner@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028