§ 27-1-22 — Uniform Prescription Drug Information Card or Technology

(a) Every health benefit plan that provides coverage for prescription drugs or devices, or administers a plan, including, but not limited to, third party administrators for self-insured plans and state administered plans, excluding the Alabama Medicaid Program, shall issue to its insureds a card or other technology containing prescription drug information. The uniform prescription drug information card or technology shall be in the format approved by the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) and shall include all of the required fields and conform to the most recent pharmacy ID card or technology implementation guide produced by NCPDP or conform to a national format acceptable to the Commissioner of Insurance. If a health care plan includes a conditional or situational field, it shall conform to the most recent pharmacy information card or technology implementation guide by the NCPDP or conform to a national format acceptable to the Commissioner of Insurance.
(b) A new uniform prescription drug information card or technology, as required under subsection (a), shall be issued by an insurer upon enrollment and revised upon any change in the certificate holder’s coverage that impacts data contained on the card or upon any change in the NCPDP implementation guide or successor document, provided that the change affects data elements contained on the card. Newly issued cards or technology shall be updated with the latest coverage information and shall conform to the NCPDP standards in effect and to the implementation guide then in use.
(c) For purposes of this section, a “health benefit plan” is a health insurance policy, including a self-insured health plan, that covers hospital, medical, or surgical expenses, health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations, medical service organizations, physician-hospital organizations, or any other person, firm, corporation, joint venture, or other similar business entity that pays for, purchases, or furnishes health care services to patients, insureds, or beneficiaries in this state. The term does not include accident-only, specified disease, individual hospital indemnity, credit, dental-only, Medicare-supplement, long-term care, or disability income insurance; coverage issued as a supplement to liability insurance, workers’ compensation, or similar insurance; or automobile medical-payment insurance. For the purposes of this section, a health benefit plan located or domiciled outside of the State of Alabama is deemed to be subject to the provisions of this section if it receives, processes, adjudicates, pays, or denies claims for health care services submitted by or on behalf of patients, insureds, or beneficiaries who reside in the State of Alabama or who receive health care services in the State of Alabama. The term includes, but is not limited to, entities created pursuant to Article 6 of Chapter 4 of Title 10.
(d) Enforcement of this section shall be the responsibility of the Commissioner of Insurance. The Commissioner of Insurance shall promulgate rules necessary to effectuate this section. A health benefit plan may not conduct business in this state if the plan violates this section.
(e) For purposes of this section, renewal of a health benefit policy, contract, or plan is presumed to occur on each anniversary of the date on which coverage was first effective on the person or persons covered by the health benefit plan.

Legislative History

(Act 2000-392, p. 615, §§1, 2.)