Committee adopts working document for health-insurance reimbursement bill with lower minimum rate

Senators on the Labor and Commerce Committee on March 11 adopted a committee substitute for SB 121 (health insurance allowable charges) as the working document and set the bill aside for further consideration.

Sen. Kathy Giesel, sponsor of SB 121, said the substitute (version W) sets a minimum reimbursement rate of "345% of Medicare's fee schedule" to address clinician supply and access. She told the committee the CS preserves network adequacy standards across six geographic areas and adds periodic audits to ensure insurers meet the minimum reimbursement rate.

Jane Conway, staff to Sen. Giesel, reviewed the revisions in version W and said the CS changes the proposed minimum reimbursement from 450% to 345% of Medicare's fee schedule, retains network adequacy, repeals now-unnecessary language, and maintains an effective date of Jan. 1, 2027. Committee members heard the explanation, removed an initial objection from the chair for purposes of explanation, and adopted the CS as the working document without recorded roll-call votes.

Committee action on SB 121 is procedural at this point: the CS was adopted as the working document and the bill was set aside for future consideration. The transcript records no floor vote or committee roll call; committee members asked no additional substantive questions at the March 11 hearing.

What this would do: as presented to the committee, SB 121 would establish a statutory minimum insurer reimbursement rate (345% of Medicare) and network adequacy standards to help ensure access to a variety of provider types across six geographic regions; periodic audits would be used to monitor insurer compliance. The bill’s effective date as read in committee is Jan. 1, 2027.