South Carolina § 38-59-220 - Requesting fee schedule from insurer; confidentiality.

§ 38-59-220. Requesting fee schedule from insurer; confidentiality.

(A) Within six months of the effective date of this article, each insurer, upon written request from a physician who is also a participating provider will provide, by CD-ROM, or electronically at the insurer's option, the fee schedule that is contracted with that physician for up to 100 CPT(r) Codes customarily and routinely used by the specialty type of such physician. Each physician may request from an insurer an updated fee schedule no more than two times annually.

(B) A physician requesting a fee schedule pursuant to subsection (A) may elect to receive a hard copy of the fee schedule in lieu of the foregoing; however, the insurer may charge the physician a reasonable fee to cover the increased administrative costs of providing the hard copy.

(C) The physician shall keep all fee schedule information provided pursuant to this section confidential. The physician shall disclose fee schedule information only to those employees of the physician who have a reasonable need to access this information in order to perform their duties for the physician and who have been placed under an obligation to keep this information confidential. Any failure of a physician's office to abide by this subsection shall result in the physician's forfeiture of the right to receive fee schedules pursuant to this section and at the option of the insurer may constitute a breach of contract by the physician.

(D) Nothing in this section prohibits an insurer from basing actual compensation to the physician on the insurer's maximum allowable amount or other contract adjustments, including those stated in the patient's plan of benefits, or both.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 356, SECTION 1, eff one year after approval by the Governor (approved June 11, 2008).