Section 21.54.050. Payment of blanket health policy benefits.

   (a) All benefits under a blanket health insurance policy shall be paid to (1) the person insured; (2) the designated beneficiary or beneficiaries of the person insured; (3) the estate of the person insured; (4) the parent, guardian, or other person actually supporting the person insured, if the person insured is a minor or otherwise not competent to give a valid release; or (5) the employer, if the entire cost of the insurance has been paid by the employer. An insurer may, and upon written request of the covered person shall, within 30 working days after receiving a proof of loss statement, pay benefits directly to the provider of the hospital, nursing, medical, dental, or surgical services. The policy may not contain a provision requiring that services be provided by a particular hospital or person, except as applicable to a health maintenance organization under AS 21.86. If the insurer pays indemnities to the insured after the covered person has given the insurer written notice in the proof of loss statement of an election of direct payment of indemnities to the provider of the service, the insurer shall also pay those indemnities to the provider of the service.
   (b) A covered person may revoke an election of direct payment of benefits made under (a) of this section by giving written notice of the revocation to the insurer and to the provider of the services. The written notice of revocation given to the insurer must certify that the covered person has given written notice of revocation to the provider of the services. Revocation of an election of direct payment is not effective until the notice of revocation is received by the insurer and the provider of the services.
   (c) The right of the covered person to request payment of indemnities under a group health insurance policy directly to the provider of the services or to another person may be transferred to a person who is not the covered person by a qualified domestic relations order. Rights under the qualified domestic relations order do not take effect until the order is received by the insurer. In this subsection, "qualified domestic relations order" means an order or judgment in a divorce or dissolution action under AS 25.24 that designates a person to determine to whom indemnities for a covered person should be paid under a health insurance policy.
   (d) This section does not prohibit an insurer from recovering an indemnity mistakenly paid to a provider or a covered person.

Notes

History

(Sec. 1 ch 120 SLA 1966; am Sec. 3 ch 133 SLA 1990; am Sec. 73, 74 ch 56 SLA 1996)