New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 13 - INSURANCE
Chapter 10 - HEALTH INSURANCE
Part 13 - MANAGED HEALTH CARE - BENEFITS
Section 13.10.13.7 - DEFINITIONS

A. "Certified nurse-midwife" means any person who is licensed by the board of nursing as a registered nurse and who is licensed by the New Mexico department of health as a certified nurse-midwife.

B. "Certified nurse practitioner" means a registered nurse whose qualifications are endorsed by the board of nursing for expanded practice as a certified nurse practitioner and whose name and pertinent information is entered on the list of certified nurse practitioners maintained by the board of nursing.

C. "Continuous quality improvement" means an ongoing and systematic effort to measure, evaluate, and improve a managed health care plan's process in order to continually improve the quality of health care services provided to its covered persons.

D. "Covered person" means an individual entitled to receive health care benefits provided by a health benefits plan, and includes individuals whose health insurance coverage is provided by an entity that purchases or is authorized to purchase health care benefits pursuant to the New Mexico Health Care Purchasing Act.

E. "Cytologic screening" means a papanicolaou test or liquid based cervical cytopathology, a human papillomavirus test and a pelvic exam for symptomatic as well as asymptomatic female patients.

F. "Division" means the New Mexico division of insurance.

G. "Emergency care" means health care procedures, treatments, or services delivered to a covered person after the sudden onset of what reasonably appears to be a medical condition that manifests itself by symptoms of sufficient severity, including severe pain, that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected by a reasonable layperson, to result in:

H. "Evidence of coverage" means a clear and conspicuous written statement of the essential features and medical services covered by the managed health care plan (MHCP), which may include a separate summary of benefits, as more particularly described at 13.10.23.8 NMAC, and which is provided to the covered person by the MHCP.

I. "FDA" means the United States food and drug administration.

J. "Grievance" means a complaint, and other documentation, as more particularly defined at 13.10.17.7 NMAC, submitted by or on behalf of a covered person.

K. "Health care facility" means an institution providing health care services, including a hospital or other licensed inpatient center; an ambulatory surgical or treatment center; a skilled nursing center; a residential treatment center; a home health agency; a diagnostic, laboratory or imaging center; and a rehabilitation or other therapeutic health setting.

L. "Health care insurer" means a person that has a valid certificate of authority in good standing under the Insurance Code to act as an insurer, health maintenance organization, nonprofit health care plan, prepaid dental plan, a multiple employer welfare arrangement or any other person providing a plan of health insurance or a managed health care plan subject to state insurance law and regulation.

M. "Health care professional" means a physician or other health care professional, including a pharmacist, who is licensed, certified or otherwise authorized by the state to provide health care services consistent with state law.

N. "Health care services" means services, supplies, and procedures for the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, cure or relief of a health condition, illness, injury, or disease, and includes, to the extent offered by the health benefits plan, physical and mental health services, including community-based mental health services, and services for developmental disability or developmental delay.

O. "Health maintenance organization (HMO)" means any person who undertakes to provide or arrange for the delivery of basic health care services to covered persons on a prepaid basis, except for covered person responsibility for copayments or deductibles.

P. "Independent quality review organization (IQRO)" means an organization independent of the health care insurer or managed health care plan that performs external quality audits of managed health care plans and submits reports of its findings to both the managed health care plan and to the division.

Q. "Managed care" means a system or technique(s) generally used by third party payors or their agents to affect access to and control payment for health care services. Managed care techniques most often include one or more of the following:

R. "Managed health care plan (MHCP or plan)" means a policy, contract, certificate or agreement offered or issued by a health care insurer, provider service network, or plan administrator to provide, deliver, arrange for, pay for, or reimburse the costs of health care services, except as otherwise provided in this subsection. A MHCP either requires a covered person to use, or creates incentives, including financial incentives, for a covered person to use health care providers managed, owned, under contract with or employed by the health care insurer, provider service network, or plan administrator. Effective immediately, a MHCP does not include a traditional fee-for-service indemnity health benefit plan or a health benefit plan that covers only short-term travel, accident-only, limited benefit, an indemnity, PPO dental or non-profit dental benefit plan, student health plan, or specified disease policies. For purposes of this section, "plan administrator" shall include and apply to an HMO or other health care insurer not required to be licensed under Section 59A-12A-2 NMSA 1978, but which is acting as a "plan administrator" as defined under the act." A MHCP includes a health benefits plan as defined under NMSA 1978 Section 59A-22A-3(D) as "the health insurance policy or subscriber agreement between the covered person or the policyholder and the health care insurer which defines the covered services and benefit levels available."

S. "Obstetrician-gynecologist" means a physician who is board eligible or board certified by the American board of obstetricians and gynecologists or by the American college of osteopathic obstetricians and gynecologists.

T. "Participating provider" means a provider who, under a contract (or through other arrangement) with the health care insurer offering a managed health care plan, or with its contractor or subcontractor, has agreed to provide health care services to covered persons with an expectation of receiving payment, other than copayments or deductibles, directly or indirectly from the managed health care plan or health care insurer.

U. "Physician assistant" means a skilled person who is a graduate of a physician assistant or surgeon assistant program approved by a nationally recognized accreditation body or who is currently certified by the national commission on certification of physician assistants, and who is licensed in the state of New Mexico to practice medicine under the supervision of a licensed physician.

V. "Primary care practitioner (PCP)" means a health care professional who, within the scope of his or her license, supervises, coordinates, and provides initial and basic care to covered persons, who initiates their referral for specialist care, and who maintains continuity of patient care. Primary care practitioners shall include but not be limited to general practitioners, family practice physicians, internists, pediatricians, and obstetricians-gynecologists, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Pursuant to 13.10.21.7 NMAC, other health care professionals may also provide primary care.

W. "Prospective enrollee" means:

X. "Provider" means a duly licensed hospital or other licensed facility, physician, or other health care professional authorized to furnish health care services within the scope of their license.

Y. "Registered lay midwife" means any person who practices lay midwifery and is registered as a lay midwife by the New Mexico department of health.

Z. "Screening mammography" means a radiologic examination utilized to detect unsuspected breast cancer at an early stage in asymptomatic persons and includes the x-ray examination of the breast using equipment that is specifically for mammography, including the x-ray tube, filter, compression device, screens, film, and cassettes, and that has an average radiation exposure delivery of less than one rad mid-breast. Screening mammography includes two views for each breast. Screening mammography includes the professional interpretation of the film, but does not include diagnostic mammography.

AA. "Subscriber" means an individual whose employment or other status, except family dependency, is the basis for eligibility for enrollment in the managed health care plan, or in the case of an individual contract, the person in whose name the contract is issued.

BB. "Summary of benefits" means a summary of the benefits and exclusions, required to be given prior to or at the time of enrollment to a prospective subscriber by the health care insurer or group contract holder.

CC. "Tertiary care facility" means a hospital unit which provides complete perinatal care and intensive care of intrapartum and perinatal high-risk patients with responsibilities for coordination of transport, communication, education and data analysis systems for the geographic area served.

DD. "Traditional fee-for-service indemnity benefit" means a fee-for-service indemnity benefit as defined at 13.10.17.7 NMAC, as a fee-for-service indemnity benefit, not associated with any financial incentives that encourage covered persons to utilize preferred providers, to follow pre-authorization rules, to utilize prescription drug formularies or other cost-saving procedures to obtain prescription drugs, or to otherwise comply with a plan's incentive program to lower cost and improve quality, regardless of whether the benefit is based on an indemnity form of reimbursement for services.

EE. "Urgent care" means medically necessary health care services provided in emergencies or after a primary care physician's normal business hours for unforeseen conditions due to illness or injury that are not life-threatening but require prompt medical attention.

FF. "Utilization review" means a system for reviewing the appropriate and efficient allocation of medical services and hospital resources given or proposed to be given to a patient or group of patients.