Bill Text: NY S07263 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires health insurers to provide an insurer or subscriber who is a victim of domestic violence, upon request of such insurer or subscriber, with the option to designate alternative contact information for the purpose of receiving specific claim information or for specific billing purposes.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2022-10-18 - SIGNED CHAP.579 [S07263 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S07263-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7263--A Cal. No. 1086 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE June 28, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sens. LIU, MATTERA, SERINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules -- recommitted to the Committee on Insurance in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to allowing victims of domestic violence the opportunity to designate an alternate address for health insurance claims or billing purposes The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subsections (f) and (g) of section 2612 of the insurance 2 law, subsection (f) as amended by chapter 246 of the laws of 2005 and 3 subsection (g) as added by chapter 361 of the laws of 2006, are amended 4 to read as follows: 5 (f) If any person covered by an insurance policy issued to another 6 person as the policyholder delivers to the insurer that issued the poli- 7 cy, at its home office, a valid order of protection against the policy- 8 holder, issued by a court of competent jurisdiction in this state, or, 9 except where the insurance policy was issued by a health insurer as 10 defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subsection (h) of this 11 section, a request to designate an alternative mailing address, tele- 12 phone number or method of contact for the purpose of receiving claim 13 related information if the person states that disclosure of all or part 14 of the claim related information could endanger the person, the insurer 15 shall be prohibited for the duration of the order, or until the request 16 designating an alternative mailing address, telephone number or other 17 method of contact is cancelled by the requesting person in writing, from 18 disclosing to the policyholder the address [and], telephone number [of] 19 or other method of contact for the insured, or [of] for any person or 20 entity providing covered services to the insured, any personally identi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06979-02-2S. 7263--A 2 1 fying information of the insured, or the nature of the covered services 2 provided to the insured, or from mailing, delivering, or otherwise 3 providing claim related information to any mailing address, telephone 4 number, or other method of contact other than as designated by the 5 requesting person pursuant to this subsection. If a child is the 6 covered person, the right established by this subsection may be asserted 7 by, and shall also extend to, the parent or guardian of the child. An 8 insurer may require a person making a request to designate an alterna- 9 tive mailing address, telephone number or other method of contact pursu- 10 ant to this subsection to: make the request in writing; include in the 11 request a statement that disclosure of all or part of the claim related 12 information to which the request pertains could endanger the person or 13 child; and specify an alternative mailing address, telephone number, or 14 other method of contact. For the purpose of this subsection, "claim 15 related information" means all claim or billing information relating 16 specifically to an insured or person covered by an insurance policy 17 issued by an insurer other than a health insurer as defined in subpara- 18 graph (B) of paragraph (1) of subsection (h) of this section. The super- 19 intendent, in consultation with the commissioner of health and the 20 office of children and family services and the office for the prevention 21 of domestic violence, shall promulgate rules to guide and enable insur- 22 ers to guard against the disclosure of the address and location of an 23 insured who is a victim of domestic violence. 24 (g) If any person covered by a group insurance policy delivers to the 25 insurer that issued the policy, at its home office, (i) a valid order of 26 protection against another person covered by the group policy, issued by 27 a court of competent jurisdiction in this state, or, except where the 28 insurance policy was issued by a health insurer as defined in subpara- 29 graph (B) of paragraph (1) of subsection (h) of this section, a request 30 to designate an alternative mailing address, telephone number or 31 other method of contact for the purpose of receiving claim related 32 information if the person states that disclosure of all or part of the 33 claim related information could endanger the person, the insurer shall 34 be prohibited for the duration of the order, or until the request desig- 35 nating an alternative mailing address, telephone number or other method 36 of contact is cancelled by the requesting person in writing, from 37 disclosing to the person against whom [the] a valid order of protection 38 was issued the address [and], telephone number [of] or other method of 39 contact for the insured person covered by the order of protection or 40 [of] for any person or entity providing covered services to the insured 41 person covered by the order of protection, any personally identifying 42 information of the insured, or the nature of the covered services 43 provided to the insured, or from mailing, delivering, or otherwise 44 providing claim related information to any mailing address, telephone 45 number, or other method of contact other than as designated by the 46 requesting person pursuant to this subsection. If a child is the covered 47 person, the right established by this subsection may be asserted by, and 48 shall also extend to, the parent or guardian of the child. An insurer 49 may require a person making a request to designate an alternative mail- 50 ing address, telephone number or other method of contact pursuant to 51 this subsection to: make the request in writing; include in the request 52 a statement that disclosure of all or part of the claim related informa- 53 tion to which the request pertains could endanger the person or child; 54 and specify an alternative mailing address, telephone number, or other 55 method of contact. For the purpose of this subsection, "claim related 56 information" means all claim or billing information relating specif-S. 7263--A 3 1 ically to an insured or person covered by an insurance policy issued by 2 an insurer other than a health insurer as defined in subparagraph (B) of 3 paragraph (1) of subsection (h) of this section. The superintendent, in 4 consultation with the commissioner of health, the office of children and 5 family services and the office for the prevention of domestic violence, 6 shall promulgate rules to guide and enable insurers to guard against the 7 disclosure of the address and location of an insured who is a victim of 8 domestic violence. 9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 10 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
