Creates provisions relating to health insurance
HB 2775 amends Missouri insurance law by adding three new sections governing health carriers, anesthesia reimbursement, and the use of contract documents in health insurance arrangements. The bill would prohibit health carriers from imposing penalties or fees on in-network providers because a service involved an out-of-network provider. It also sets rules for how anesthesia services must be reimbursed, requiring payment to be calculated using prevailing medical billing standards, a base-plus-time-unit formula, and time units of no more than 15 minutes, while barring carriers from capping anesthesia time or excluding all anesthesia time from reimbursement.
The bill further restricts health carriers from relying on undisclosed or later-added manuals, policies, protocols, procedures, or similar documents to change provider or enrollee obligations. For contracts issued, amended, continued, or renewed on or after August 28, 2026, such materials generally must be incorporated by reference, in effect when the contract is signed, and made available electronically. Limited exceptions allow changes that are separately negotiated, required by law, or reflect changes to standardized code sets, Medicare, or MO HealthNet fee schedules. Any contractual waiver of these protections would be void as against public policy.
HB 2775 would directly affect Missouri health insurers, managed care organizations, health services corporations, health maintenance organizations, anesthesia practitioners, and health care providers by limiting carrier billing and contract-administration practices. It would amend Chapter 376, RSMo, and create enforceable standards for anesthesia reimbursement and for when carrier manuals and policies can bind providers or enrollees. The bill also extends the definition of health carrier to include MO HealthNet managed care organizations and certain entities defined in Chapter 354, broadening its reach across both commercial and public managed care arrangements.
The available record shows no committee transcript or vote history, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to gauge directly. Based on the bill text, the measure appears designed to protect providers and enrollees from insurer billing practices and from contract terms that can change through external manuals or policies, suggesting a consumer- and provider-protective intent. Its structure indicates an effort to standardize reimbursement and increase transparency in health plan contracting.
The likely points of contention are between health carriers and anesthesia providers, and between insurers and providers over contract flexibility. Carriers may object to limits on their ability to impose anesthesia time caps, exclude anesthesia time, or rely on updated manuals and policies to administer contracts. Providers and their advocates would likely support the bill’s restrictions on hidden or unilateral contract changes and its requirement that anesthesia be reimbursed according to established billing standards. The inclusion of MO HealthNet managed care organizations and the prospective effective date for 2026 may also be areas of discussion.