(a) General rule.--The rates charged to subscribers by hospital plan corporations, all rates of payments to hospitals made by such corporations pursuant to the contracts provided for in this chapter, all acquisition costs in connection with the solicitation of subscribers to such hospital plans, the reserves to be maintained by such corporations, the certificates issued by such corporations representing their agreements with subscribers, and any and all contracts entered into by any such corporation with any hospital, shall, at all times, be subject to the prior approval of the department.

(b) Procedure.--Every application for such approval shall be made to the department in writing and shall be subject to the provisions of subsections (c) through (f) of section 6102 of this title (relating to certification of hospital plan corporations) except that the department may substitute publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin of notice of reasonable opportunity to submit written comments for publication of opportunity for hearing in any case where the right to an oral hearing is not conferred by the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of Pennsylvania. Within 60 days after the filing of the application the department shall approve or refuse such application.

(c) Maintenance of contractual relationships.--

(1) Declaration of necessity.--It is hereby found that many subscribers to nonprofit hospital plans make payments over long periods of time prior to becoming entitled to benefits under such a plan and that it is important in the public interest that the reasonable expectations of such subscribers as to coverage should be fulfilled if possible. It is hereby declared to be essential for the maintenance of the health of the residents of this Commonwealth that subscribers to nonprofit hospital plans be assured receipt of the hospitalization and related health benefits prepaid by them through payment of the rates approved under this chapter and charged by a hospital plan corporation and that to accomplish this essential purpose termination of contracts between hospital plan corporations and hospitals entered into pursuant to section 6121 (relating to eligible hospitals) and this section be subject to prior approval by the department as provided in this subsection.

(2) Notification period.--No contract between a hospital plan corporation and any hospital providing for the rendering of hospitalization to subscribers to the hospital plan shall be terminated unless the party seeking such termination gives 90 days advance written notice to the other party to the contract and to the department of the proposed termination.

(3) Hearing period.--Whenever a termination subject to paragraph (2) involves contracts with hospitals having more than 5% of the beds in the area served by a hospital plan corporation, the department shall hold public hearings on at least 15 days notice for the purpose of investigating the reasons for the termination. Pending completion of said investigation by the department, termination of the hospital contracts shall be suspended for a period not to exceed six months from the expiration of the period provided for in paragraph (2). All terms and conditions of the contract between the hospital plan corporation and the hospital or hospitals shall continue in full force and effect during said investigation by the department. Based on the record made during the hearings, the department shall make specific findings as to the facts of the dispute and shall either approve termination of the contracts or recommend such terms for continuation of the contract as are in the public interest, based upon the facts, the right of a hospital to be paid its costs for hospitalization services to subscribers and the need of subscribers for efficient, reliable hospitalization at a reasonable cost.

(4) Negotiation period.--If the department recommends terms for continuation of the contract, the hospital plan corporation and the hospitals involved shall renew their negotiations in order to determine whether a new agreement can be reached substantially on the basis of the terms for continuation recommended by the department and pending such negotiations, the termination of the hospital contracts shall be suspended for a further period not to exceed 90 days from the date of the decision of the department. If the hospital plan corporation and the hospitals are unable to consummate a new contract within said further period of 90 days, they shall so advise the department. The department shall in that event approve termination of the contracts effective at the end of a further period of 30 days and shall prescribe the form and extent of notice which the hospital plan corporation shall use in advising its subscribers that hospitalization in the hospitals involved is not covered by a contract between the hospital plan corporation and such hospitals.

(5) Retroactivity.--Upon the settlement of any dispute between a hospital plan corporation and any hospital pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (4), the terms and conditions of any new contract shall be retroactive to the date of expiration of the contract previously in effect between the parties.

(Aug. 2, 1975, P.L.293, No.94, eff. imd.)

1996 Partial Repeal. Section 14 of Act 159 of 1996, known as the Accident and Health Filing Reform Act, provided that subsec. (a) is repealed insofar as it provides for the approval of rates and contracts.

1975 Amendment. Act 94 added subsec. (c). See sections 2 and 3 of Act 94 of 1975 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to applicability and effective date and retroactivity.

References in Text. Section 14 of Act 159 of 1996, known as the Accident and Health Filing Reform Act, was renumbered 5101 by the act of December 22, 2011, P.L.614, No.134.