329:31-b Prohibition on Balance Billing; Payment for Reasonable Value of Services. –
I. When a commercially insured patient is covered by a managed care plan as defined under RSA 420-J:3, XXV, a health care provider performing anesthesiology, radiology, emergency medicine, or pathology services shall not balance bill the patient for fees or amounts other than copayments, deductibles, or coinsurance, if the service is performed in a hospital or ambulatory surgical center that is in-network under the patient's health insurance plan. This prohibition shall apply whether or not the health care provider is contracted with the patient's insurance carrier.
II. Pursuant to paragraph I, fees for health care services submitted to an insurance carrier for payment shall be limited to a commercially reasonable value, based on payments for similar services from New Hampshire insurance carriers to New Hampshire health care providers.
III. In the event of a dispute between a provider and an insurance carrier relative to the reasonable value of a service under this section, the insurance commissioner shall have exclusive jurisdiction under RSA 420-J:8-e to determine if the fee is commercially reasonable. The provider and the insurance carrier shall each make best efforts to resolve any dispute prior to applying to the insurance commissioner for resolution, which shall include presenting to the other party evidence supporting its contention that the fee level it is proposing is commercially reasonable. The department of insurance may require the parties to engage in mediation prior to rendering a decision.