Healthcare

This bill requires New Jersey health insurance carriers offering managed care plans to adopt new regulations ensuring policyholders have reasonable and timely access to specific physician specialists at in-network hospitals. It directly affects insurance companies and their members seeking care from anesthesiologists, radiologists, pathologists, emergency medicine physicians, and related services. The key provision mandates the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance to establish rules requiring networks to maintain adequate specialist access based on geographic service areas and specialty needs. These rules build on existing network adequacy standards but add explicit requirements for specialist availability. The bill aims to prevent gaps in access to critical specialty care within insurance networks.