Following the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City last December, Kentucky lawmakers are considering restrictions on public access to certain insurance denial information, according to the Herald-Leader.
The House Judiciary Committee approved a revised version of House Bill 662 on Wednesday. The bill was originally intended to exempt certain personal details of federal judges and their immediate families from public disclosure, including dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. John Blanton, introduced a substitutive version that maintains those protections for federal judges and extends them to state judges while also adding provisions related to insurance denials.
The revised bill would require the removal of medical license numbers from documents provided to customers after insurance claim decisions. As a result, customers would be unable to identify doctors who recommended claim denials. Additionally, doctors would no longer sign denial letters sent to customers.
“We seen what happened up in New York back in the summer with the insurance guy,” Blanton, R-Salyersville, told the committee.
The suspect in Thompson’s shooting, Luigi Mangione, reportedly made statements critical of healthcare costs and industry profits. He has been charged with murder and stalking.
Blanton indicated he may further amend the bill on the House floor to allow hospitals and doctors access to the information if necessary for filing appeals after denials. He stated that the bill is not intended to interfere with the appeals process.
Investigative news organizations and consumers have previously examined the backgrounds of doctors involved in insurance claim denials, reviewing their qualifications, disciplinary records, education, and areas of specialty.
Members of the House committee said there is no reason for the public to know the identities of doctors working for insurance companies.
“I think it’s important to protect the identity publicly for the reasons that you state, with the United CEO being murdered and that public kind of doxxing. It’s not necessary for that signature to be public necessarily,” said state Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, R-Taylor Mill.
Cory Meadows, a lobbyist for the Kentucky Medical Association, told the committee that his group supports restricting public access to this information as long as hospitals and doctors can still obtain it for claims appeals.
One lawmaker raised concerns about the potential impact on oversight.
State Rep. Lindsey Burke, D-Lexington, questioned who would be responsible for identifying patterns of denials if only those within the medical community had access to decision-makers’ identities.
“I think what you’re kind of describing is an advocate, right? An advocate for patients,” Meadows responded. “We’re proud to say that our physicians act on a daily basis to be advocates for their patients. So that’s why we feel like them (the patients’ doctors) at least getting this information is absolutely critical.”
The committee voted 15-0, with one pass vote from Burke, to send the bill to the House floor for further consideration.
