Section 4614.

(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 5307.1, where the employee's individual or organizational provider of health care services rendered under this division and paid on a fee-for-service basis is also the provider of health care services under contract with the employee's health benefit program, and the service or treatment provided is included within the range of benefits of the employee's health benefit program, and paid on a fee-for-service basis, the amount of payment for services provided under this division, for a work-related occurrence or illness, shall be no more than the amount that would have been paid for the same services under the health benefit plan, for a non-work-related occurrence or illness.

(2) A health care service plan that arranges for health care services to be rendered to an employee under this division under a contract, and which is also the employee's organizational provider for nonoccupational injuries and illnesses, with the exception of a nonprofit health care service plan that exclusively contracts with a medical group to provide or arrange for medical services to its enrollees in a designated geographic area, shall be paid by the employer for services rendered under this division only on a capitated basis.

(b) (1) Where the employee's individual or organizational provider of health care services rendered under this division who is not providing services under a contract is not the provider of health care services under contract with the employee's health benefit program or where the services rendered under this division are not within the benefits provided under the employer-sponsored health benefit program, the provider shall receive payment that is no more than the average of the payment that would have been paid by five of the largest preferred provider organizations by geographic region. Physicians, as defined in Section 3209.3, shall be reimbursed at the same averaged rates, regardless of licensure, for the delivery of services under the same procedure code. This subdivision shall not apply to a health care service plan that provides its services on a capitated basis.

(2) The administrative director shall identify the regions and the five largest carriers in each region. The carriers shall provide the necessary information to the administrative director in the form and manner requested by the administrative director. The administrative director shall make this information available to the affected providers on an annual basis.

(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an individual or organizational health care provider from being paid fees different from those set forth in the official medical fee schedule by an employer, insurance carrier, third-party administrator on behalf of employers, or preferred provider organization representing an employer or insurance carrier provided that the administrative director has determined that the alternative negotiated rates between the organizational or individual provider and a payer, a third-party administrator on behalf of employers, or a preferred provider organization will produce greater savings in the aggregate than if each item on billings were to be charged at the scheduled rate.

(d) For the purposes of this section, "organizational provider" means an entity that arranges for health care services to be rendered directly by individual caregivers. An organizational provider may be a health care service plan, disability insurer, health care organization, preferred provider organization, or workers' compensation insurer arranging for care through a managed care network or on a fee-for-service basis. An individual provider is either an individual or institution that provides care directly to the injured worker.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 866, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 2003.)