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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2519--A
Cal. No. 107
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 19, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CYMBROWITZ, ABBATE, BRONSON, PEOPLES-STOKES,
WEPRIN, ABINANTI, SEAWRIGHT, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, HEVESI, RAMOS, REYES,
GOTTFRIED, WALCZYK, WALLACE, CRUZ, JACOBSON, SILLITTI -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Insurance -- ordered to a third reading
-- passed by Assembly and delivered to the Senate, recalled from the
Senate, vote reconsidered, bill amended, ordered reprinted, retaining
its place on the special 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
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06979-03-2
A. 2519--A 2
1 entity providing covered services to the insured, any personally identi-
2 fying information of the insured, or the nature of the covered services
3 provided to the insured, or from mailing, delivering, or otherwise
4 providing claim related information to any mailing address, telephone
5 number, or other method of contact other than as designated by the
6 requesting person pursuant to this subsection. If a child is the
7 covered person, the right established by this subsection may be asserted
8 by, and shall also extend to, the parent or guardian of the child. An
9 insurer may require a person making a request to designate an alterna-
10 tive mailing address, telephone number or other method of contact pursu-
11 ant to this subsection to: make the request in writing; include in the
12 request a statement that disclosure of all or part of the claim related
13 information to which the request pertains could endanger the person or
14 child; and specify an alternative mailing address, telephone number, or
15 other method of contact. For the purpose of this subsection, "claim
16 related information" means all claim or billing information relating
17 specifically to an insured or person covered by an insurance policy
18 issued by an insurer other than a health insurer as defined in subpara-
19 graph (B) of paragraph (1) of subsection (h) of this section. The super-
20 intendent, in consultation with the commissioner of health and the
21 office of children and family services and the office for the prevention
22 of domestic violence, shall promulgate rules to guide and enable insur-
23 ers to guard against the disclosure of the address and location of an
24 insured who is a victim of domestic violence.
25 (g) If any person covered by a group insurance policy delivers to the
26 insurer that issued the policy, at its home office, (i) a valid order of
27 protection against another person covered by the group policy, issued by
28 a court of competent jurisdiction in this state, or, except where the
29 insurance policy was issued by a health insurer as defined in subpara-
30 graph (B) of paragraph (1) of subsection (h) of this section, a request
31 to designate an alternative mailing address, telephone number or
32 other method of contact for the purpose of receiving claim related
33 information if the person states that disclosure of all or part of the
34 claim related information could endanger the person, the insurer shall
35 be prohibited for the duration of the order, or until the request desig-
36 nating an alternative mailing address, telephone number or other method
37 of contact is cancelled by the requesting person in writing, from
38 disclosing to the person against whom [the] a valid order of protection
39 was issued the address [and], telephone number [of] or other method of
40 contact for the insured person covered by the order of protection or
41 [of] for any person or entity providing covered services to the insured
42 person covered by the order of protection, any personally identifying
43 information of the insured, or the nature of the covered services
44 provided to the insured, or from mailing, delivering, or otherwise
45 providing claim related information to any mailing address, telephone
46 number, or other method of contact other than as designated by the
47 requesting person pursuant to this subsection. If a child is the covered
48 person, the right established by this subsection may be asserted by, and
49 shall also extend to, the parent or guardian of the child. An insurer
50 may require a person making a request to designate an alternative mail-
51 ing address, telephone number or other method of contact pursuant to
52 this subsection to: make the request in writing; include in the request
53 a statement that disclosure of all or part of the claim related informa-
54 tion to which the request pertains could endanger the person or child;
55 and specify an alternative mailing address, telephone number, or other
56 method of contact. For the purpose of this subsection, "claim related
A. 2519--A 3
1 information" means all claim or billing information relating specif-
2 ically to an insured or person covered by an insurance policy issued by
3 an insurer other than a health insurer as defined in subparagraph (B) of
4 paragraph (1) of subsection (h) of this section. The superintendent, in
5 consultation with the commissioner of health, the office of children and
6 family services and the office for the prevention of domestic violence,
7 shall promulgate rules to guide and enable insurers to guard against the
8 disclosure of the address and location of an insured who is a victim of
9 domestic violence.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
11 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
