§432E-11  Accreditation of managed careplans.  (a)  Beginning January 1, 1999, the commissioner shall contractwith one or more certified vendors of the consumer assessment health plansurvey to conduct a survey of all managed care plans actively offering managedcare plans in this State to provide managed care plans an opportunity to learnwhether any deficiencies exist or any improvements are required; provided thatthe information collected shall be kept confidential in the first year, andthereafter shall be available to the public.

(b)  The commissioner shall conduct a programthat promotes public awareness and education about managed care plans so thatconsumers may make better or more informed choices when selecting a managedcare plan.

(c)  Beginning January 1, 2000, unaccreditedplans shall submit a plan to the commissioner to achieve national accreditationstatus within five years.  After the first year of the five-year plan, eachunaccredited plan shall also submit an annual progress report to thecommissioner on the status of gaining national accreditation.  The commissionershall determine which national accreditation organization is appropriate foreach type of plan.

(d)  Every mutual benefit society, every healthmaintenance organization, and every other entity offering or providing healthbenefits or services under the regulation of the commissioner, except aninsurer licensed to offer accident and health or sickness insurance underarticle 10A of chapter 431, shall deposit with the commissioner a fee toprovide for the actual costs of the survey and educational program to bedetermined by the commissioner on July 1 of each year, to be credited to thecompliance resolution fund. [L 1999, c 137, pt of §2; am L 2002, c 39, §18; amL 2003, c 212, §128]