Exam 2: Governance and Regulation

The Opal Health Plan complies with all of the provisions of the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996 (NMHPA). Samantha Hill and Debra Chao are Opal enrollees. Ms. Hill was nhospitalized for a cesarean birth, and Ms. Chao was hospitalized for a normal delivery. From the following answer choices, select the response that indicates the minimum hospital stay for which Opal, under NMHPA, must provide benefits for Ms. Hill and Ms. Chao.

Regulatory and legislative bodies are among the important environmental forces in the health plan industry. The following statements are about such regulation and legislation. Select the answer choice that contains the correct statement.

Indigo Health Plan advertised a specific individual health insurance policy through a direct mail advertisement that provided detailed information about the product. In order to comply with the NAIC Model Rules Governing Advertisements of Accident and Sickness Insurance, Indigo must disclose whether the advertised policy contains any exceptions, reductions, or limitations. Thus, Indigo disclosed in the advertisement that one policy provision limits coverage for dental exams to $50 per exam and to one exam per calendar year. This information indicates that, with respect to the definitions in the NAIC Model Rules, Indigo's advertisement is an example of an

The following situations illustrate per se violations of federal antitrust laws: Situation A - Two groups of providers agreed among themselves that each provider will do business with health plans only on a fee-for-service basis. Situation B - In order to avoid competing with each other, two independent, competing physicianhospital organizations (PHOs) divide the geographic areas in which they will market their services. From the following answer choices, select the response that correctly identifies the types of per se violations illustrated by these situations.

State X issued a nonresident license to Tamara Pensky, a sales representative of the Verity Health Plan. In doing so, State X imposed a countersignature requirement, which requires that

The Good & Well Pharmacy, a Medicaid provider of outpatient drugs, is subject to the prospective drug utilization review (DUR) mandates of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA '90). One component of prospective DUR is screening. In this context, when Good & Well is involved in the process of screening, the pharmacy is

Greenpath Health Services, Inc., an HMO, recently terminated some providers from its network in response to the changing enrollment and geographic needs of the plan. A provision in Greenpath's contracts with its healthcare providers states that Greenpath can terminate the contract at any time, without providing any reason for the termination, by giving the other party a specified period of notice. The state in which Greenpath operates has an HMO statute that is patterned on the NAIC HMO Model Act, which requires Greenpath to notify enrollees of any material change in its provider network. As required by the HMO Model Act, the state insurance department is conducting an examination of Greenpath's operations. The scope of the on-site examination covers all aspects of Greenpath's market conduct operations, including its compliance with regulatory requirements. With respect to the type of change that constitutes a material change under the HMO Model Act's disclosure requirements, the termination of one healthcare provider from Greenpath's provider network

One example of health plan's influence on the practice of medicine is that, during the past decade, the focus of healthcare has moved toward _________________, which is designed to reduce the overall need for healthcare services by providing patients with decision-making information.

Health plans typically divide their costs into medical and administrative expenses. Examples of medical expenses are.

The Tidewater Life and Health Insurance Company is owned by its policy owners, who are entitled to certain rights as owners of the company, and it issues both participating and nonparticipating insurance policies. Tidewater is considering converting to the type of company that is owned by individuals who purchase shares of the company's stock. Tidewater is incorporated under the laws of Illinois, but it conducts business in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. Tidewater established the Diversified Corporation, which then acquired various subsidiary firms that produce unrelated products and services. Tidewater remains an independent corporation and continues to own Diversified and the subsidiaries. In order to create and maintain a common vision and goals among the subsidiaries, the management of Diversified makes decisions about strategic planning and budgeting for each of the businesses. In creating Diversified, Tidewater formed the type of company known as

n the paragraph below, a statement contains two pairs of terms enclosed in parentheses. Determine which term in each pair correctly completes the statement. Then select the answer choice containing the two terms that you have chosen. Every employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) must distribute a summary plan description (SPD) to participants within (90 / 120) days after the date on which the plan is adopted or made effective. Thereafter, if the plan is amended, a new SPD must be distributed every (5 / 10) years.

Arthur Dace, a plan member of the Bloom Health Plan, tried repeatedly over an extended period to schedule an appointment with Dr. Pyle, his primary care physician (PCP). Mr. Dace informally surveyed other Bloom plan members and found that many people were experiencing similar problems getting an appointment with this particular provider. Mr. Dace threatened to take legal action against Bloom, alleging that the health plan had deliberately allowed a large number of patients to select Dr. Pyle as their PCP, thus making it difficult for patients to make appointments with Dr. Pyle. Bloom recommended, and Mr. Dace agreed to use, an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) method that is quicker and less expensive than litigation. Under this ADR method, both Bloom and Mr. Dace presented their evidence to a panel of medical and legal experts, who issued a decision that Bloom's utilization management practices in this case did not constitute a form of abuse. The panel's decision is legally binding on both parties. This information indicates that Bloom resolved its dispute with Mr. Dace by using an ADR method known as:

SoundCare Health Services, an MCO, recently conducted a situation analysis. One step in this analysis required SoundCare to examine its current activities, its strengths and weaknesses, and its ability to respond to potential threats and opportunities in the environment. This activityprovided SoundCare with a realistic appraisal of its capabilities. One weakness that SoundCare identified during this process was that it lacked an effective program for preventing and detecting violations of law. SoundCare decided to remedy this weakness by using the 1991 Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations as a model for its compliance program. By definition, the activity that SoundCare conducted when it examined its strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities is known as

Some health plans qualify as tax-exempt organizations under Sections 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. One true statement regarding a health plan that qualifies as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, in comparison to a health plan that qualifies as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, is that a

Health plans should monitor changes in the environment and emerging trends, because changes in society will affect the managed care industry. One true statement regarding recent changes in the environment in which health plans operate is that

There are several approaches to the interagency division of responsibility for managed care entity (MCE) oversight. In State M, the state Medicaid agency, the state department of health, and the state insurance department are all responsible for ensuring that quality improvement programs are in place among the same group of MCEs and that these programs meet each agency's rules and regulations for such programs. This information indicates that State M uses the approach known as the

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) seeking federal qualification under the HMO Act of 1973 and its amendments must meet requirements in four basic operational areas. One operational requirement for qualification is that an HMO must

Solvency standards for Medicare provider-sponsored organizations (PSOs) are divided into three parts: (1) the initial stage, (2) the ongoing stage, and (3) insolvency. In the initial stage, prior CMS approval, a Medicare PSO typically must have a minimum net worth of

Third party administrators (TPAs) provide various administrative services to health plans or groups that provide health benefit plans to their employees or members. Many state laws that regulate TPAs are based on the NAIC Third Party Administrator Model Statute. One provision of the TPA Model Law is that it

The Nonprofit Institutions Act allows the Neighbor Hospital, a not-for-profit hospital, to purchase at a discount drugs for its 'own use'. Consider whether the following sales of drugs were not for Neighbor's own use and therefore were subject to antitrust enforcement: Elijah Jamison, a former patient of Neighbor, renewed a prescription that was originally dispensed when he was discharged from Neighbor. Neighbor filled a prescription for Camille Raynaud, who has no connection to Neighbor other than that her prescribing physician is located in a nearby physician's office building. Neighbor filled a prescription for Nigel Dixon, who is a friend of a Neighbor medical staff member. With respect to the United States Supreme Court's definition of 'own use,' the drug sales that were not for Neighbor's own use were the sales that Neighbor made to