§23-2C-17. Administration of a competitive system.

(a) Every policy of insurance issued by a private carrier:

(1) Shall be in writing;

(2) Shall contain the insuring agreements and exclusions; and

(3) If it contains a provision inconsistent with this chapter, it shall be deemed to be reformed to conform with this chapter.

(b) The Industrial Council shall promulgate a rule which prescribes the requirements of a basic policy to be used by private carriers.

(c) A private carrier or self-insured employer may enter into a contract to have its plan of insurance administered by a third-party administrator if the administrator is licensed with the Insurance Commissioner in accordance with article forty-six, chapter thirty-three of this code. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, any third-party administrator who, directly or indirectly, underwrites or collects charges or premiums from, or adjusts or settles claims on residents of this state, in connection with workers' compensation coverage offered or provided by a private carrier or self-insured employer, is subject to the provisions of article forty-six, chapter thirty-three of this code to the same extent as those persons included in the definition set forth in subsection (a), section two of said article. The Insurance Commissioner shall propose rules, as provided in section five, article two-c of this chapter, to regulate the use of third-party administrators by private carriers and self-insured employers, including rules setting forth mandatory provisions for agreements between third-party administrators and self-insured employers or private carriers.

(d) A self-insured employer or a private carrier may:

(1) Enter into a contract or contracts with one or more organizations for managed care to provide comprehensive medical and health care services to employees for injuries and diseases that are compensable pursuant to this chapter. The managed care plan must be approved pursuant to the provisions of section three, article four of this chapter.

(2) Require employees to obtain medical and health care services for their industrial injuries from those organizations and persons with whom the self-insured employer or private carrier has contracted or as the self-insured employer or private carrier otherwise prescribes.

(3) Except for emergency care, require employees to obtain the approval of the self-insured employer or private carrier before obtaining medical and health care services for their industrial injuries from a provider of health care who has not been previously approved by the self-insured employer or private carrier.

(e) A private carrier or self-insured employer may inquire about and request medical records of an injured employee that concern a preexisting medical condition that is reasonably related to the industrial injury of that injured employee.

(f) An injured employee must sign all medical releases necessary for his or her self-insured employer or his or her employer's private carrier to obtain information and records about a preexisting medical condition that is reasonably related to the industrial injury of the employee and that will assist the insurer to determine the nature and amount of workers' compensation to which the employee is entitled.