Massachusetts General Laws
Chapter 176j - Small Group Health Insurance
Section 11 - Reduced or Selective Network Plans; Tiered Network Plans; Smart Tiering Plans

Section 11. (a) A carrier that offers a health benefit plan that: (i) provides or arranges for the delivery of health care services through a closed network of health care providers; and (ii) as of the close of any preceding calendar year, has a combined total of 5,000 or more eligible individuals, eligible employees and eligible dependents, who are enrolled in health benefit plans sold, issued, delivered, made effective or renewed to qualified small businesses or eligible individuals, shall offer to all eligible individuals and small businesses in at least 1 geographic area at least 1 plan with either:
(1) a reduced or selective network of providers;
(2) a smart tiering plan in which health services are tiered and member cost sharing is based on the tier placement of the services; or,
(3) a plan in which providers are tiered and member cost sharing is based on the tier placement of the provider.
The commissioner of insurance shall annually determine a base premium rate discount of at least 14 per cent for the reduced or selective or tiered network plan compared to the base premium of the carrier's most actuarially similar plan with the carrier's non-selective or non-tiered network of providers. The savings may be achieved by means including, but not limited to: (i) the exclusion of providers with similar or lower quality based on the standard quality measure set with higher health status adjusted total medical expenses or relative prices, as determined under section 10 of chapter 12C; or (ii) increased member cost-sharing for members who utilize providers for non-emergency services with similar or lower quality based on the standard quality measure set and with higher health status adjusted total medical expenses or relative prices, as determined under said section 10 of said chapter 12C.
The commissioner may apply waivers to the base premium rate discount determined by the commissioner under this section to carriers who receive 80 per cent or more of their incomes from government programs or which have service areas which do not include either Suffolk or Middlesex counties and who were first admitted to do business by the division of insurance on January 1, 1986, as health maintenance organizations under chapter 176G.
(b) A tiered network plan shall only include variations in member cost-sharing between provider tiers which are reasonable in relation to the premium charged and ensure adequate access to covered services. Carriers shall tier providers based on quality performance as measured by the standard quality measure set and by cost performance as measured by health status adjusted total medical expenses and relative prices. Where applicable quality measures are not available, tiering may be based solely on health status adjusted total medical expenses or relative prices or both. Smart tiering plans may take into account the number of services performed each year by the provider. For smart tiering plans, if a medically necessary and covered service is available at not more than 5 facilities in the state, as determined by the health policy commission, that service shall not be placed into the most expensive cost-sharing tier.
The commissioner shall promulgate regulations requiring the uniform reporting of tiering information, including, but not limited to, requiring at least 90 days before the proposed effective date of any tiered network plan or any modification in the tiering methodology for any existing tiered network plan, the reporting of a detailed description of the methodology used for tiering providers, including: the statistical basis for tiering; a list of providers to be tiered at each member cost-sharing level; a description of how the methodology and resulting tiers will be communicated to each network provider, eligible individuals and small groups; and a description of the appeals process a provider may pursue to challenge the assigned tier level.
(c) The commissioner shall determine network adequacy for a tiered network plan based on the availability of sufficient network providers in the carrier's overall network of providers.
(d) The commissioner shall determine network adequacy for a selective network plan based on the availability of sufficient network providers in the carrier's selective network.
(e) In determining network adequacy under this section the commissioner of insurance may take into consideration factors such as the location of providers participating in the plan and employers or members that enroll in the plan, the range of services provided by providers in the plan and plan benefits that recognize and provide for extraordinary medical needs of members that may not be adequately dealt with by the providers within the plan network.
(f) Carriers may: (i) reclassify provider tiers; and (ii) determine provider participation in selective and tiered plans not more than once per calendar year except that carriers may reclassify providers from a higher cost tier to a lower cost tier or add providers to a selective network at any time. If the carrier reclassifies provider tiers or providers participating in a selective plan during the course of an account year, the carrier shall provide affected members of the account with information regarding the plan changes at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Carriers shall provide information on their websites about any tiered or selective plan, including but not limited to, the providers participating in the plan, the selection criteria for those providers and where applicable, the tier in which each provider is classified.
(g) A smart tiering plan shall be a tiering product, which offers a cost-sharing differential based on services rather than facilities providing services. A service covered in a smart tiering plan may be reimbursed through bundled payments for acute and chronic diseases.
(h) The division of insurance shall review smart tiering plans in a manner consistent with other products offered in the commonwealth. The division of insurance may disapprove a smart tiering plan if it determines that the carrier differentiated cost-sharing obligations solely based on the provider. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a plan has violated this subsection if the cost-sharing obligation for all services provided by a provider, including a health care facility, accountable care organization, patient centered medical home, or provider organization, is the same.
(i) The commissioner when reviewing smart tiering plans shall promote the following goals: (1) avoid creating consumer confusion; (2) minimize the administrative burdens on payers and providers in implementing smart tiering plans; and (3) allow patients to get their services in the proper locations.
(j) The division of insurance shall report annually specific findings and legislative recommendations, including the following: (1) the utilization trends of eligible employers and eligible individuals enrolled in plans offered under this section; (2) the extent to which tiered product offerings have reduced health care costs for patients and employers; (3) the effects that tiered product offerings have on patient education relating to health care costs and quality; (4) the effects that tiered product offerings have on patient utilization of local hospitals and the resulting impact on overall state health care costs, including the state's compliance with the health care cost growth benchmark established under section 9 of chapter 6D; (5) opportunities to incentivize tiered prodcut offerings for both health systems and employers. The report shall also include the number of members enrolled by plan type, aggregate demographic, geographic information on all members and the average direct premium claims incurred, as defined in section 6, for selective and tiered network products compared to non-selective and non-tiered products. The report shall be submitted to clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the senate and house committees on ways and means and the joint committee on health care financing.