1. a. The State Health Benefits Commission shall ensure that every contract purchased by the commission on or after the effective date of P.L.2001, c.284 (C.52:14-17.29g) provides that if an enrollee's or member's primary care physician's contract as a participating physician in a health maintenance organization or State managed care plan will be terminated, the health maintenance organization or State managed care plan, as appropriate, shall provide the enrollee or member with 90-days' notice of the termination. If 90-days' notice cannot be provided because the termination will occur prior to the end of the 90-day period, the health maintenance organization or State managed care plan shall notify the enrollee or member as soon as the health maintenance organization or State managed care plan has knowledge of the termination.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of any policy governing open enrollment to the contrary, an enrollee or member who has been notified by a health maintenance organization or State managed care plan pursuant to this section may change his coverage to another health benefits plan under the State Health Benefits Program upon receiving notice that his primary care physician will no longer be a participating physician with the health maintenance organization or State managed care plan, in which the person is currently enrolled.