Right to a Second Medical Opinion Act of 2009

Summary

Right to a Second Medical Opinion Act of 2009 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require a group health plan to provide coverage for a second opinion requested by a participant or beneficiary or a health care practitioner if certain conditions are met, including that the medical condition threatens loss of life, quality of life, loss of limb, loss of bodily function, loss of cognitive function, or substantial impairment of the mind or body. Directs that the financial responsibility of the participant or beneficiary for a second opinion shall be the same as that for comparable services furnished by a participating physician in connection with an initial opinion. Sets forth provisions governing a health plan: (1) limiting coverage of a second opinion to a participating physician; (2) requiring preapproval for a second opinion; and (3) denying coverage or denying preapproval for a second opinion. Allows a plan to condition payment for a second opinion on the physician providing a consultation report to the health care practitioner making the initial opinion. Requires plans to provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) a timeline for providing reimbursement of claims for second opinions and for responding to requests for preapproval of second opinions. Applies the provisions of this Act to individual health insurance coverage.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in House (text)

  Introduced in House · EN · 18 May 2009

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in House (PDF)

  Introduced in House · EN · 18 May 2009

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 18 May 2009

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.