Relating to certain practices of health benefit plan issuers to encourage the use of certain physicians and health care providers and rank physicians.

HB 1959 regulates how health insurance plans incentivize patients to use specific doctors. It allows plans to use modified deductibles or copayments to encourage enrollment in preferred provider networks but requires these practices to serve the enrollee's primary benefit. Crucially, the bill prohibits plans from ranking or tiering physicians based on their own performance metrics unless using standards approved by the insurance commissioner. This directly affects health benefit issuers and their provider network designs, ensuring transparency and alignment with patient interests. The bill is currently pending in the Insurance Committee.