SB 500

As introduced: - Decreases the time for a health carrier to respond to an expedited prior authorization request from 72 to 24 hours and a standard request from seven to five calendar days. - Requires a health carrier to establish a program to exempt providers with high prior authorization approval rates from requirements for routine services. - Prohibits a health carrier from downcoding a claim for services that have received prior authorization. - Requires a health carrier to disclose to the provider and the enrollee if an artificial intelligence tool was used to deny a prior authorization request. - Prohibits a dental plan from denying a claim for failure to obtain prior authorization if the provider was unable to reach the plan or was on hold for more than 15 minutes when attempting to obtain it.