Doctors of oriental medicine as a class of licensed providers willing to meet the terms and conditions offered by a health maintenance organization shall not be excluded from a health maintenance organization and shall not be discriminated against relative to other classes of licensed providers regarding services provided within their scope of practice that are in compliance with nationally recognized coding systems. Health maintenance organizations may determine the specific procedure codes that a doctor of oriental medicine is contracted to provide. Health maintenance organizations may choose to contract a doctor of oriental medicine as a primary care provider.

History: Laws 1989, ch. 96, § 2; 1993, ch. 158, § 4; 1978 Comp., § 59A-46-32.1, recompiled as 1978 Comp., § 59A-46-36 by Laws 1993, ch. 266, § 31; 2003, ch. 96, § 1.

Recompilations. — Laws 1993, ch. 266, § 31, recompiled former 59A-46-36 NMSA 1978, as enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 56, § 1, relating to coverage for cytologic screening, as 59A-46-42 NMSA 1978, effective January 1, 1994.

Cross references. — For prohibition of discrimination against oriental medical doctors, see 59A-47-28.2 NMSA 1978.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, inserted "and shall not be discriminated against relative to other classes of licensed providers regarding services provided within their scope of practice that are in compliance with nationally recognized coding systems." following "health maintenance organization" and added the last two sentences.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, substituted "Doctor of Oriental Medicine" for "Acupuncture Practitioner" in the section heading and substituted "Doctors of oriental medicine" for "Acupuncture practitioners" at the beginning of the section.