SPONSOR: Helms
This bill prohibits a health care professional from charging a patient for pathology services if the professional did not personally render the pathology services himself or herself. If a health care professional makes such a charge, a patient, insurer, payor, hospital, or clinic is not required to pay, and the health care professional may have his or her license disciplined. The bill does not prohibit billing of a referring laboratory for pathology services where a sample must be sent to another specialist.
The bill does not mandate the assignment of benefits for pathology services.
The bill does not prohibit a physician from sending a patient's specimen to a pathology services lab. The pathology services lab can only bill the patient directly, the insurance company, the hospital or clinic, the referring laboratory, or a governmental agency.
Statutes affected: