Pennsylvania House Bill HB1796

Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 8/11/25
• Refer: 8/11/25

Caption

Providing for confidentiality in certain communications between insurers and protected individuals.

Summary

HB1796, the Confidential Insurance Communications Protection Act, would create a new confidentiality process for certain health insurance communications in Pennsylvania. It allows a “protected individual” — a person covered under a health insurance policy who says disclosure could endanger them — to request that an insurer send communications such as explanation of benefits forms, claims notices, billing statements, or appointment reminders to an alternate address, secure email, or private phone number. The bill requires insurers to honor a qualifying request within 10 business days and bars them from demanding proof of abuse beyond the individual’s written attestation. It also prohibits insurers from telling the primary policyholder or third parties that a confidentiality request was made, and forbids denial of coverage, benefits, or services based on the request. The act would take effect 120 days after enactment.

Impact

The bill would add a new confidentiality requirement to Pennsylvania health insurance administration and make violations enforceable under the Unfair Insurance Practices Act. That means the Insurance Department could investigate noncompliance and impose administrative penalties such as fines and corrective action orders. In practical terms, the measure would affect health insurers and health plan administrators, while benefiting covered individuals who need private communications to avoid endangerment, including survivors of domestic violence and others at risk.

Sentiment

The bill’s stated purpose and findings suggest strong support for privacy and safety protections, especially for survivors of domestic violence and people seeking medical or behavioral health care without alerting an abuser or other unsafe party. Because there were no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, there is no documented opposition or debate in the available materials. The overall sentiment reflected in the bill text is protective and consumer-focused.

Contention

The main policy tension is between protecting vulnerable insured individuals and the administrative burden on insurers to implement alternate communication methods quickly and without requiring documentation beyond self-attestation. Another possible point of concern is the breadth of the nondisclosure rule, which prevents insurers from revealing the existence of a request to the primary policyholder or others. No specific objections, amendments, or opposing viewpoints are available in the provided record.