California Health and Safety Code 1395.5 – (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), no contract …
(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), no contract that is issued, amended, renewed, or delivered on or after January 1, 1999, between a health care service plan, including a specialized health care service plan, and a provider shall contain provisions that prohibit, restrict, or limit the health care provider from advertising.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit plans from establishing reasonable guidelines in connection with the activities regulated pursuant to this chapter, including those to prevent advertising that is, in whole or in part, untrue, misleading, deceptive, or otherwise inconsistent with this chapter or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. For advertisements mentioning a provider’s participation in a plan, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit plans from requiring each advertisement to contain a disclaimer to the effect that the provider’s services may be covered for some, but not all, plan contracts, or that plan contracts may cover some, but not all, provider services.
Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 1395.5
- Advertisement: means any written or printed communication or any communication by means of recorded telephone messages or by radio, television, or similar communications media, published in connection with the offer or sale of plan contracts. See California Health and Safety Code 1345
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Director: means "State Director of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 21
- Person: means any person, individual, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, foundation, labor organization, corporation, limited liability company, public agency, or political subdivision of the state. See California Health and Safety Code 1345
- plan: refers to health care service plans and specialized health care service plans. See California Health and Safety Code 1345
- Provider: means any professional person, organization, health facility, or other person or institution licensed by the state to deliver or furnish health care services. See California Health and Safety Code 1345
- Solicitation: means any presentation or advertising conducted by, or on behalf of, a plan, where information regarding the plan, or services offered and charges therefor, is disseminated for the purpose of inducing persons to subscribe to, or enroll in, the plan. See California Health and Safety Code 1345
- specialized health care service plan: means either of the following:
California Health and Safety Code 1345
(c) Nothing in this section is intended to prohibit provisions or agreements intended to protect service marks, trademarks, trade secrets, or other confidential information or property. If a health care provider participates on a provider panel or network as a result of a direct contractual arrangement with a health care service plan that, in turn, has entered into a direct contractual arrangement with another person or entity, pursuant to which enrollees, subscribers, insureds, and other beneficiaries of that other person or entity may receive covered services from the health care provider, then nothing in this section is intended to prohibit reasonable provisions or agreements in the direct contractual arrangement between the health care provider and the health care service plan that protect the name or trade name of the other person or entity or require that the health care provider obtain the consent of the health care service plan prior to the use of the name or trade name of the other person or entity in any advertising by the health care provider.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair or impede the authority of the director to regulate advertising, disclosure, or solicitation pursuant to this chapter.
(Amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 525, Sec. 150. Effective January 1, 2000. Operative July 1, 2000, or sooner, by Sec. 214 of Ch. 525.)