Ch. 91             1997 Session Laws of Kansas             317

An Act concerning social welfare; relating to identifying health care and other medical
benefits provided under medical benefit plans for beneficiaries of federal medicaid ben-
efits; prescribing penalties for failure to provide certain information.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:

Section 1. (a) Upon the request of the secretary of social and reha-
bilitation services, each medical benefit plan provider that provides or
maintains a medical benefit plan, that provides any hospital or medical
services or any other health care or other medical benefits or services, or
both, in Kansas, shall provide the secretary with information, to the extent

318             1997 Session Laws of Kansas             Ch. 91

known by the medical benefit plan provider, identifying each person who
is covered by such medical benefit plan or who is otherwise provided any
such hospital or medical services or any other such health care or other
medical benefits or services, or both, in Kansas under such medical ben-
efit plan. The information shall be provided in such form as is prescribed
by the secretary for the purpose of comparing such information with
medicaid beneficiary information maintained by the secretary to assist in
identifying other health care or medical benefit coverage available to
medicaid beneficiaries. The secretary shall reimburse each medical ben-
efit plan provider that provides information under this section for the
reasonable cost of providing such information.

(b) All information provided by medical benefit plan providers under
this section shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed pursuant to
the provisions of the open records act or under the provisions of any other
law. Such information may be used solely for the purpose of determining
whether medical assistance has been paid or is eligible to be paid by the
secretary for which a recovery from a medical benefit plan provider is
due under K.S.A. 39-719a and amendments thereto.

(c) Failure to provide information pursuant to a request by the sec-
retary of social and rehabilitation services under this section shall consti-
tute a failure to reply to an inquiry of the commissioner of insurance and
shall be subject to the penalties applicable thereto under K.S.A. 40-226
and amendments thereto. If a medical plan provider fails to provide in-
formation to the secretary of social and rehabilitation services pursuant
to a request under this section, the secretary shall notify the commissioner
of such failure. The commissioner of insurance may pursue each such
failure to provide such information in accordance with K.S.A. 40-226 and
amendments thereto.

(d) As used in this section:

(1) ``Medical benefit plan'' means any accident and health insurance
or any other policy, contract, plan or agreement that provides benefits or
services, or both, for any hospital or medical services or any other health
care or medical benefits or services, or both, in Kansas, whether or not
such benefits or services, or both, are provided pursuant to individual,
group, blanket or certificates of accident and sickness insurance, any other
insurance providing any accident and health insurance, or any other pol-
icy, contract, plan or agreement providing any such benefits or services,
or both, in Kansas, and includes any policy, plan, contract or agreement
offered in Kansas pursuant to the federal employee retirement income
security act of 1974 (ERISA) that provides any hospital or medical serv-
ices or any other health care or medical benefits or services, or both, in
Kansas; and

(2) ``medical benefit plan provider'' means any insurance company,
nonprofit medical and hospital service corporation, health maintenance
organization, fraternal benefit society, municipal group-funded pool,

Ch. 91             1997 Session Laws of Kansas             319

group-funded workers compensation pool or any other entity providing
or maintaining a medical benefit plan.

(e) No medicaid provider who rendered professional services to a
medicaid beneficiary and was paid by the secretary for such services shall
be liable to the medical benefit plan provider for any amounts recovered
pursuant to this act or pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 39-719a and
amendments thereto.

Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the Kansas register.

Approved April 10, 1997.

Published in the Kansas Register: April 17, 1997.