PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor

Ch. 352

(ii) Failure by a carrier to provide the written notification required under
subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall be considered a violation of this article and the carrier
is subject to the penalties provided under § 55A of this article.

(iii) If a carrier provides written notice to the provider of its intent to
continue to process the provider's application for purposes of obtaining the necessary
credentialing information under subparagraph (i)1 of this paragraph, the carrier shall:

1. Within 150 days after the date the notice is provided, accept or
reject the provider for participation in the carrier's provider panel; and

2. Send written notification to the address listed on the application
of the provider's acceptance or rejection for participation in the carrier's provider panel.

(iv) Failure of a carrier to send the written notification required under
subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph shall be considered a violation of this article and the
carrier is subject to the provisions and penalties of §§ 55 and 55A of this article.

(4)     (i) A carrier that receives an incomplete application submitted in
accordance with paragraph (1) of this subsection shall return the application within 10 days
from the date of receipt to the provider to the address listed on the application.

(ii) The carrier shall indicate to the provider what information is needed in
order to make the application complete.

(iii) The provider may return the completed application to the carrier.

(iv) After the carrier receives the completed application, the carrier is
subject to the time periods established in paragraph (3) of this subsection.

(5)    A carrier may charge a reasonable fee for any application that a provider
submits to the carrier under this section.

(e)    A carrier may not deny an application for participation or terminate participation
on its provider panel on the basis of:

(1)     Gender, race, age, religion, national origin, or a protected category under the
Americans with Disabilities Act;

(2)     The type or number of appeals filed by the provider under the provisions of
Title 19, Subtitle 13 of the Health - General Article; or

(3)     The type or the number of complaints or grievances the provider filed or
requested for review under the carrier's internal review system.

(f)      (1) A carrier may not deny an application for participation or terminate
participation on its provider panel solely on the basis of the license, certification, or other
authorization of the provider to provide services if the carrier provides services within the
provider's lawful scope of practice.

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