Utah Legislature: Medical coverage measure advances

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill approved Friday by a Senate committee would require health insurance companies to provide a letter stating that a medical procedure is covered if it is pre-authorized to any plan member in good standing who asks for it.

SB39 adds just 14 lines to the state insurance code and specifies that the statement would not be a guarantee of payment by the insurer.

However, the bill's sponsor Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley, told committee members that a written statement would increase transparency of an administratively murky area for consumers, providers and insurers.

But an insurance industry spokesman told the committee that the exact opposite would be the result, and he said the measure adds "a ring of outer darkness" to already overcomplicated billing processes.

— James Thalman