Wednesday, 28 March 2007
Ohio Introduces Bill To Improve Care Providers And Insurers' Relationship
The Ohio General Assembly has introduced legislation aimed at simplifying the relationship between healthcare providers and insurance companies.
Under provisions of the new bill, insurance companies will be required to have an online system of up-to-date enrollee information that’s easily accessible by doctors. It would also make an online database of all doctors’ credentials available to the healthcare industry. This would cut down on administrative work, and make it easier to approve doctors to practice in new networks.
Another goal of the measure is to sort out insurer’s reimbursement policies to care providers. A summary and disclosure will be required for every provider-payer contract. All fee schedules, payment policies, and categories of coverage must also be well clarified for doctors, hospitals, and other care providers.
“It frees up more time to commit resources for patient care and not so much toward the administration side,’ said the bill's main sponsor, Republican State Senator Kevin Coughlin.
The bill is a bipartisan effort to make the Ohio healthcare system more efficient and to save money for statewide healthcare costs. It can also make it easier for the patient, enabling the doctor to easily clarify which medical care procedures are covered under their health plan.
“Everything that we can do to reduce healthcare costs goes a long way,” Coughlin added.
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