North Carolina Establishes Managed Care Office To Comply with State Patients’ Rights Law

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley (D) on May 13 announced that the state has established a new Office of Managed Care Patient Assistance in the state Department of Justice as part of a patients' rights law enacted last October, the Raleigh News & Observer reports (Gardner, Raleigh News & Observer, 5/14). The law -- which allows patients to sue their health plans in state court for denial of benefits after they exhaust internal and external appeals -- required the governor to establish the office to help residents in the appeals process (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/26/01). The law required Easley to establish a patient assistance office last December, but according to an Easley spokesperson, a dispute over whether the state justice department or Department of Insurance should administer the new office delayed the decision. Patient advocates had asked Easley to establish the patient assistance office in the state justice department, while health insurers had "pushed" for the state insurance department to administer the office. Easley said, "Housing the new office in the Department of Justice with their strong Consumer Protection Section is a natural fit." However, he added, "Because the insurance department also has effective programs in place to help consumers resolve problems with health care providers, collaboration between the two agencies will be essential to guaranteeing patients' rights are protected" (Raleigh News & Observer, 5/14).