Governor signs health care simplification act

Governor Ted Strickland signed House Bill 125 last Wednesday. (Source: "Governor signs health care simplification act," Dayton Business Journal, March 26, 2008.) Also known as the health care simplification act, the bill was sponsored by Matt Huffman, R-Lima, and requires that insurers provide physicians with a plain summary of contract terms and an updated source of rate information. The bill also bans clauses that require a doctor to accept all of an insurer's products or that keep doctors from accepting lower payment rates from another insurer. The bill also will create a "study committee to consider an Internet-based system for doctors to check a patient's eligibility, covered procedures, co-payments and deductible." For previous coverage of the bill, go here and here.