The allowed amount paid to an out-of-network provider for health care services described under RCW 48.49.020, shall be a commercially reasonable amount, based on payments for the same or similar services provided in the same or a similar geographic area.

(1) Within thirty calendar days of receipt of a claim from an out-of-network provider or facility, the carrier shall offer to pay the provider or facility a commercially reasonable amount. Payment of an adjudicated claim shall be considered an offer to pay. The amount actually paid to an out-of-network provider by a carrier may be reduced by the applicable consumer cost-sharing determined under WAC 284-43B-020 (1)(a). The date of receipt by the provider or facility of the carrier's offer to pay is five calendar days after a transmittal of the offer is mailed to the provider or facility, or the date of transmittal of an electronic notice of payment. The claim submitted by the out-of-network provider or facility to the carrier must include the following information:

(a) Patient name;

(b) Patient date of birth;

(c) Provider name;

(d) Provider location;

(e) Place of service, including the name and address of the facility in which, or on whose behalf, the service that is the subject of the claim was provided;

(f) Provider federal tax identification number;

(g) Federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services individual national provider identifier number, and organizational national provider identifier number, if the provider works for an organization or is in a group practice that has an organization number;

(h) Date of service;

(i) Procedure code; and

(j) Diagnosis code.

(2) If the out-of-network provider or facility wants to dispute the carrier's offer to pay, the provider or facility must notify the carrier no later than thirty calendar days after receipt of the offer to pay or payment notification from the carrier. A carrier may not require a provider or facility to reject or return payment of the adjudicated claim as a condition of putting the payment into dispute.

(3) If the out-of-network provider or facility disputes the carrier's offer to pay, the carrier and provider or facility have thirty calendar days after the provider or facility receives the offer to pay to negotiate in good faith.

(4) If the carrier and the out-of-network provider or facility do not agree to a commercially reasonable payment amount within the thirty-calendar day period under subsection (3) of this section, and the carrier, out-of-network provider or out-of-network facility chooses to pursue further action to resolve the dispute, the dispute shall be resolved through arbitration, as provided in RCW 48.49.040.