(a) In determining premium payment rates and other amounts paid to managed care organizations under a managed care plan, the commission may not base or derive the rates or amounts on or from encounter data, or incorporate in the determination an analysis of encounter data, unless a certifier of encounter data certifies that:
(1) the encounter data for the most recent state fiscal year is complete, accurate, and reliable; and
(2) there is no statistically significant variability in the encounter data attributable to incompleteness, inaccuracy, or another deficiency as compared to equivalent data for similar populations and when evaluated against professionally accepted standards.
(b) For purposes of determining whether data is equivalent data for similar populations under Subsection (a)(2), a certifier of encounter data shall, at a minimum, consider:
(1) the regional variation in utilization patterns of recipients and costs of health care services;
(2) the range and type of health care services to be covered by premium payment rates;
(3) the number of managed care plans in the region; and
(4) the current number of recipients in each region, including the number for each category of recipient.

Text of section effective until April 01, 2025