[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3559 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3559

   To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure that third party 
     review is available whenever health insurance coverage in the 
                    individual market is terminated.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 24 (legislative day, September 17), 2008

  Mr. Coleman introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure that third party 
     review is available whenever health insurance coverage in the 
                    individual market is terminated.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Continuing Coverage Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.

    Subpart 2 of part B of title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300gg-51 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 2754. THIRD-PARTY REVIEW IN THE CASE OF TERMINATION.

    ``(a) In General.--A health insurance issuer offering health 
insurance coverage in the individual market shall ensure that, with 
respect to an enrollee, independent, third-party review is provided 
through an appropriate entity where the issuer seeks to discontinue the 
health insurance coverage of such enrollee. The cost of such a review 
shall be paid by the issuer.
    ``(b) Notice.--Not later than 30 days prior to the date on which a 
health insurance issuer discontinues health insurance coverage for an 
enrollee, the issuer shall provide such enrollee with notice of the 
discontinuance. Such notice shall contain a statement of the enrollees 
right to an external review as required under subsection (a).
    ``(c) Submission of Review to Insurance Commissioner.--Upon 
completion of an external review provided for under this section, the 
determination with respect to the review shall be submitted to the 
insurance commissioner for the State involved. Such commissioner may 
approve the determination, overturn the determination, or require an 
additional independent review.
    ``(d) Preemption.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
preempt State laws that provide greater protections to enrollees than 
the protections provided by this section.''.
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