Subd. 1. Established.

The commissioners of health and commerce shall make dispute resolution processes available to encourage early settlement of disputes in order to avoid the time and cost associated with litigation and other formal adversarial hearings. For purposes of this section, "dispute resolution" means the use of negotiation, mediation, arbitration, mediation-arbitration, neutral fact finding, and minitrials. These processes shall be nonbinding unless otherwise agreed to by all parties to the dispute.

Subd. 2. Requirements.

1. (a) If an enrollee, health care provider, or applicant for network provider status chooses to use a dispute resolution process prior to the filing of a formal claim or of a lawsuit, the health plan company must participate.
2. (b) If an enrollee, health care provider, or applicant for network provider status chooses to use a dispute resolution process after the filing of a lawsuit, the health plan company must participate in dispute resolution, including, but not limited to, alternative dispute resolution under rule 114 of the Minnesota general rules of practice.
3. (c) The commissioners of health and commerce shall inform and educate health plan companies' enrollees about dispute resolution and its benefits, and shall establish appropriate cost-sharing requirements for parties taking part in alternative dispute resolution.
4. (d) A health plan company may encourage but not require an enrollee to submit a complaint to alternative dispute resolution.