Subdivision 1. Title.
Sections 62D.01 to 62D.24 may be cited as the "Health Maintenance Act of 1973."
Subd. 2. Legislative findings and intent; policy.
(a) Faced with the continuation of mounting costs of health care coupled with its inaccessibility to large segments of the population, the legislature has determined that there is a need to explore alternative methods for the delivery of health care services, with a view toward achieving greater efficiency and economy in providing these services.
(b) It is, therefore, the policy of the state to eliminate the barriers to the organization, promotion, and expansion of health maintenance organizations; to provide for their regulation by the state commissioner of health; and to exempt them from the operation of the insurance and nonprofit health service plan corporation laws of the state except as hereinafter provided.
(c) It is further the intention of the legislature to closely monitor the development of health maintenance organizations in order to assess their impact on the costs of health care to consumers, the accessibility of health care to consumers, and the quality of health care provided to consumers.