FSCO vows to get HCAI back on rails

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) intends to get the Health Claims for Auto Insurance (HCAI) electronic dataexchange system back on the rails in 2008.

FSCO posted its 2008 priorities on its web site recently, and the resumption of the currently suspended HCAI system is among them.

HCAI allows for the electronic exchange of health claim information between health care providers and insurance companies.

The $20-million system, funded by the insurance industry, was built to support access to timely, accurate data to monitor the health care costs associated with the auto insurance system.

At the request of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), FSCO suspended use of the system indefinitely in March 2008.

In a letter to FSCO citing “persistent and pervasive difficulties in accessing and using the [HCAI] system,” the IBC said it was concerned HCAI might be “impeding normal claims adjustment” and “might have implications for the provision of care to injury claimants.”

FSCO is now making it a priority in 2008 to “oversee and support the resumption and operation of the [HCAI] database.”