The arbitration program pursuant to HB 888, the “Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act” codified in OCGA § 33-20E, began on July 1st, 2021. This Bulletin is an update to the procedures to be used by providers, facilities, and insurers.

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Requests for Arbitration

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Beginning November 16th, 2021, requests for Arbitration under OCGA § 33-20E-9 should be submitted via the Department’s GovLink portal. Instructions on submitting requests via the portal can be found HERE. The requests submitted via the portal will also be sent concurrently to the health insurer.

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Unprocessed requests for Arbitration received by the Administrative Procedure Division will be sent an email with instructions on how to file via the portal.

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Providers and Facilities

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Those submitting requests should review whether their claims are eligible for surprise billing arbitration. The application to be used in the portal is the same as the Department issued previously and can be found HERE. Providers and facilities should note that the application only allows for claims related to four enrollees to be submitted per Arbitration request. Arbitration requests containing more than four enrollees or spreadsheets with large numbers of claims will be rejected for correction by the submitter.

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Health Insurers

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For insurers receiving arbitration requests, the contact email provided to the department has been pre-loaded into the portal. But, each insurer will need to create an account to view the claims submitted against it. Should an insurer create a new contact email, it should contact GovLink after creating an account to ensure that notices are sent to the correct email address.

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_____________________________________________ JOHN F. KING INSURANCE AND SAFETY FIRE COMMISSIONER STATE OF GEORGIA