Conn. Gen. Stat. § 38a-591a

Current with legislation from the 2024 Regular and Special Sessions.

Section 38a-591a - [Effective Until 1/1/2026] Definitions

As used in this section and sections 38a-591b to 38a-591o, inclusive:

(1) "Adverse determination" means:

(A) The denial, reduction, termination or failure to provide or make payment, in whole or in part, for a benefit under the health carrier's health benefit plan requested by a covered person or a covered person's treating health care professional, based on a determination by a health carrier or its designee utilization review company:

(i) That, based upon the information provided, (I) upon application of any utilization review technique, such benefit does not meet the health carrier's requirements for medical necessity, appropriateness, health care setting, level of care or effectiveness, or (II) is determined to be experimental or investigational;

(ii) Of a covered person's eligibility to participate in the health carrier's health benefit plan; or

(B) Any prospective review, concurrent review or retrospective review determination that denies, reduces or terminates or fails to provide or make payment, in whole or in part, for a benefit under the health carrier's health benefit plan requested by a covered person or a covered person's treating health care professional.

"Adverse determination" includes a rescission of coverage determination for grievance purposes.

(2) "Authorized representative" means:

(A) A person to whom a covered person has given express written consent to represent the covered person for the purposes of this section and sections 38a-591b to 38a-591n, inclusive;

(B) A person authorized by law to provide substituted consent for a covered person;

(C) A family member of the covered person or the covered person's treating health care professional when the covered person is unable to provide consent;

(D) A health care professional when the covered person's health benefit plan requires that a request for a benefit under the plan be initiated by the health care professional; or

(E) In the case of an urgent care request, a health care professional with knowledge of the covered person's medical condition.

(3) "Best evidence" means evidence based on (A) randomized clinical trials, (B) if randomized clinical trials are not available, cohort studies or case-control studies, (C) if such trials and studies are not available, case-series, or (D) if such trials, studies and case-series are not available, expert opinion.

(4) "Case-control study" means a retrospective evaluation of two groups of patients with different outcomes to determine which specific interventions the patients received.

(5) "Case-series" means an evaluation of a series of patients with a particular outcome, without the use of a control group.

(6) "Certification" means a determination by a health carrier or its designee utilization review company that a request for a benefit under the health carrier's health benefit plan has been reviewed and, based on the information provided, satisfies the health carrier's requirements for medical necessity, appropriateness, health care setting, level of care and effectiveness.

(7) "Clinical peer" means a physician or other health care professional who (A) holds a nonrestricted license in a state of the United States and in the same or similar specialty as typically manages the medical condition, procedure or treatment under review, and (B) for a review specified under subparagraph (B) or (C) of subdivision (38) of this section concerning (i) a child or adolescent substance use disorder or a child or adolescent mental disorder, holds (I) a national board certification in child and adolescent psychiatry, or (II) a doctoral level psychology degree with training and clinical experience in the treatment of child and adolescent substance use disorder or child and adolescent mental disorder, as applicable, or (ii) an adult substance use disorder or an adult mental disorder, holds (I) a national board certification in psychiatry, or (II) a doctoral level psychology degree with training and clinical experience in the treatment of adult substance use disorders or adult mental disorders, as applicable.

(8) "Clinical review criteria" means the written screening procedures, decision abstracts, clinical protocols and practice guidelines used by the health carrier to determine the medical necessity and appropriateness of health care services.

(9) "Cohort study" means a prospective evaluation of two groups of patients with only one group of patients receiving a specific intervention or specific interventions.

(10) "Commissioner" means the Insurance Commissioner.

(11) "Concurrent review" means utilization review conducted during a patient's stay or course of treatment in a facility, the office of a health care professional or other inpatient or outpatient health care setting, including home care.

(12) "Covered benefits" or "benefits" means health care services to which a covered person is entitled under the terms of a health benefit plan.

(13) "Covered person" means a policyholder, subscriber, enrollee or other individual participating in a health benefit plan.

(14) "Emergency medical condition" means a medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity, including severe pain, such that a prudent layperson with an average knowledge of health and medicine, acting reasonably, would have believed that the absence of immediate medical attention would result in serious impairment to bodily functions or serious dysfunction of a bodily organ or part, or would place the person's health or, with respect to a pregnant woman, the health of the woman or her unborn child, in serious jeopardy.

(15) "Emergency services" means, with respect to an emergency medical condition:

(A) A medical screening examination that is within the capability of the emergency department of a hospital, including ancillary services routinely available to the emergency department to evaluate such emergency medical condition; and

(B) Such further medical examination and treatment, to the extent they are within the capability of the staff and facilities available at a hospital, to stabilize a patient.

(16) "Evidence-based standard" means the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of the current best evidence based on an overall systematic review of medical research when making determinations about the care of individual patients.

(17) "Expert opinion" means a belief or an interpretation by specialists with experience in a specific area about the scientific evidence pertaining to a particular service, intervention or therapy.

(18) "Facility" means an institution providing health care services or a health care setting. "Facility" includes a hospital and other licensed inpatient center, ambulatory surgical or treatment center, skilled nursing center, residential treatment center, diagnostic, laboratory and imaging center, and rehabilitation and other therapeutic health care setting.

(19) "Final adverse determination" means an adverse determination (A) that has been upheld by the health carrier at the completion of its internal grievance process, or (B) for which the internal grievance process has been deemed exhausted.

(20) "Grievance" means a written complaint or, if the complaint involves an urgent care request, an oral complaint, submitted by or on behalf of a covered person regarding:

(A) The availability, delivery or quality of health care services, including a complaint regarding an adverse determination made pursuant to utilization review;

(B) Claims payment, handling or reimbursement for health care services; or

(C) Any matter pertaining to the contractual relationship between a covered person and a health carrier.

(21)

(A) "Health benefit plan" means an insurance policy or contract, certificate or agreement offered, delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, amended or continued in this state to provide, deliver, arrange for, pay for or reimburse any of the costs of health care services;

(B) "Health benefit plan" does not include:

(i) Coverage of the type specified in subdivisions (5) to (9), inclusive, (14) and (15) of section 38a-469 or any combination thereof;

(ii) Coverage issued as a supplement to liability insurance;

(iii) Liability insurance, including general liability insurance and automobile liability insurance;

(iv) Workers' compensation insurance;

(v) Automobile medical payment insurance;

(vi) Credit insurance;

(vii) Coverage for on-site medical clinics;

(viii) Other insurance coverage similar to the coverages specified in subparagraphs (B)(ii) to (B)(vii), inclusive, of this subdivision that are specified in regulations issued pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, P.L. 104-191, as amended from time to time, under which benefits for health care services are secondary or incidental to other insurance benefits;

(ix)

(I) Limited scope dental or vision benefits,

(II) benefits for long-term care, nursing home care, home health care, community-based care or any combination thereof, or

(III) other similar, limited benefits specified in regulations issued pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, P.L. 104-191, as amended from time to time, provided any benefits specified in subparagraphs (B)(ix)(I) to (B)(ix)(III), inclusive, of this subdivision are provided under a separate insurance policy, certificate or contract and are not otherwise an integral part of a health benefit plan; or

(x) Coverage of the type specified in subdivisions (3) and (13) of section 38a-469 or other fixed indemnity insurance if (I) they are provided under a separate insurance policy, certificate or contract, (II) there is no coordination between the provision of the benefits and any exclusion of benefits under any group health plan maintained by the same plan sponsor, and (III) the benefits are paid with respect to an event without regard to whether benefits were also provided under any group health plan maintained by the same plan sponsor.

(22) "Health care center" has the same meaning as provided in section 38a-175.

(23) "Health care professional" means a physician or other health care practitioner licensed, accredited or certified to perform specified health care services consistent with state law.

(24) "Health care services" has the same meaning as provided in section 38a-478.

(25) "Health carrier" means an entity subject to the insurance laws and regulations of this state or subject to the jurisdiction of the commissioner, that contracts or offers to contract to provide, deliver, arrange for, pay for or reimburse any of the costs of health care services, including a sickness and accident insurance company, a health care center, a managed care organization, a hospital service corporation, a medical service corporation or any other entity providing a plan of health insurance, health benefits or health care services.

(26) "Health information" means information or data, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, and personal facts or information about events or relationships that relate to (A) the past, present or future physical, mental, or behavioral health or condition of a covered person or a member of the covered person's family, (B) the provision of health care services to a covered person, or (C) payment for the provision of health care services to a covered person.

(27) "Independent review organization" means an entity that conducts independent external reviews of adverse determinations and final adverse determinations. Such review entities include, but are not limited to, medical peer review organizations, independent utilization review companies, provided such organizations or companies are not related to or associated with any health carrier, and nationally recognized health experts or institutions approved by the Insurance Commissioner.

(28) "Medical or scientific evidence" means evidence found in the following sources:

(A) Peer-reviewed scientific studies published in or accepted for publication by medical journals that meet nationally recognized requirements for scientific manuscripts and that submit most of their published articles for review by experts who are not part of the editorial staff;

(B) Peer-reviewed medical literature, including literature relating to therapies reviewed and approved by a qualified institutional review board, biomedical compendia and other medical literature that meet the criteria of the National Institutes of Health's Library of Medicine for indexing in Index Medicus (Medline) or Elsevier Science for indexing in Excerpta Medicus (EMBASE);

(C) Medical journals recognized by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services under Section 1861(t)(2) of the Social Security Act;

(D) The following standard reference compendia:

(i) The American Hospital Formulary Service - Drug Information;

(ii) Drug Facts and Comparisons;

(iii) The American Dental Association's Accepted Dental Therapeutics; and

(iv) The United States Pharmacopoeia - Drug Information;

(E) Findings, studies or research conducted by or under the auspices of federal government agencies and nationally recognized federal research institutes, including:

(i) The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality;

(ii) the National Institutes of Health;

(iii) the National Cancer Institute;

(iv) the National Academy of Sciences;

(v) the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;

(vi) the Food and Drug Administration; and

(vii) any national board recognized by the National Institutes of Health for the purpose of evaluating the medical value of health care services; or

(F) Any other findings, studies or research conducted by or under the auspices of a source comparable to those listed in subparagraphs (E)(i) to (E)(v), inclusive, of this subdivision.

(29) "Medical necessity" has the same meaning as provided in sections 38a-482a and 38a-513c.

(30) "Participating provider" means a health care professional who, under a contract with the health carrier, its contractor or subcontractor, has agreed to provide health care services to covered persons, with an expectation of receiving payment or reimbursement directly or indirectly from the health carrier, other than coinsurance, copayments or deductibles.

(31) "Person" has the same meaning as provided in section 38a-1.

(32) "Prospective review" means utilization review conducted prior to an admission or the provision of a health care service or a course of treatment, in accordance with a health carrier's requirement that such service or treatment be approved, in whole or in part, prior to such service's or treatment's provision.

(33) "Protected health information" means health information (A) that identifies an individual who is the subject of the information, or (B) for which there is a reasonable basis to believe that such information could be used to identify such individual.

(34) "Randomized clinical trial" means a controlled, prospective study of patients that have been randomized into an experimental group and a control group at the beginning of the study, with only the experimental group of patients receiving a specific intervention, and that includes study of the groups for variables and anticipated outcomes over time.

(35) "Rescission" means a cancellation or discontinuance of coverage under a health benefit plan that has a retroactive effect. "Rescission" does not include a cancellation or discontinuance of coverage under a health benefit plan if (A) such cancellation or discontinuance has a prospective effect only, or (B) such cancellation or discontinuance is effective retroactively to the extent it is attributable to the covered person's failure to timely pay required premiums or contributions towards the cost of such coverage.

(36) "Retrospective review" means any review of a request for a benefit that is not a prospective review or concurrent review. "Retrospective review" does not include a review of a request that is limited to the veracity of documentation or the accuracy of coding.

(37) "Stabilize" means, with respect to an emergency medical condition, that (A) no material deterioration of such condition is likely, within reasonable medical probability, to result from or occur during the transfer of the individual from a facility, or (B) with respect to a pregnant woman, the woman has delivered, including the placenta.

(38) "Urgent care request" means a request for a health care service or course of treatment (A) for which the time period for making a non-urgent care request determination (i) could seriously jeopardize the life or health of the covered person or the ability of the covered person to regain maximum function, or (ii) in the opinion of a health care professional with knowledge of the covered person's medical condition, would subject the covered person to severe pain that cannot be adequately managed without the health care service or treatment being requested, or (B) for a substance use disorder, as described in section 17a-458, or for a co-occurring mental disorder, or (C) for a mental disorder requiring (i) inpatient services, (ii) partial hospitalization, as defined in section 38a-496, (iii) residential treatment, or (iv) intensive outpatient services necessary to keep a covered person from requiring an inpatient setting.

(39) "Utilization review" means the use of a set of formal techniques designed to monitor the use of, or evaluate the medical necessity, appropriateness, efficacy or efficiency of, health care services, health care procedures or health care settings. Such techniques may include the monitoring of or evaluation of (A) health care services performed or provided in an outpatient setting, (B) the formal process for determining, prior to discharge from a facility, the coordination and management of the care that a patient receives following discharge from a facility, (C) opportunities or requirements to obtain a clinical evaluation by a health care professional other than the one originally making a recommendation for a proposed health care service, (D) coordinated sets of activities conducted for individual patient management of serious, complicated, protracted or other health conditions, or (E) prospective review, concurrent review, retrospective review or certification.

(40) "Utilization review company" means an entity that conducts utilization review.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 38a-591a

( P.A. 11-58 , S. 54 ; P.A. 12-102 , S. 6 ; P.A. 13-3 , S. 70 , 71 ; P.A. 14-40 , S. 1 .)

Amended by P.A. 23-0204,S. 220 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2023 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2023.

Amended by P.A. 14-0040, S. 1 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2014 Regular Session, eff. 5/28/2014.

This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.