Amendment #68 to H3944

Insurance Coverage for Acupuncture

Representatives Pignatelli of Lenox, Ashe of Longmeadow, Campbell of Methuen, Cariddi of North Adams, Calter of Kingston, Cutler of Duxbury, DiZoglio of Methuen, Dykema of Holliston, Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield, Garry of Dracut, Gentile of Sudbury, Hecht of Watertown, Heroux of Attleboro, Khan of Newton, Kulik of Worthington, Lawn of Watertown, Livingstone of Boston, Madden of Nantucket, Mark of Peru, McMurtry of Dedham, Moran of Lawrence, Muradian of Grafton, Petrolati of Ludlow, Poirier of North Attleborough, Provost of Somerville, Puppolo of Springfield, Rogers of Cambridge, Rushing of Boston, Scibak of South Hadley, Smizik of Brookline, Stanley of Waltham, Ultrino of Malden, Vega of Holyoke, Vincent of Revere and Wong of Saugus move to amend the bill by adding the following 7 sections:

“SECTION XA. Chapter 32A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 17N the following section:

Section 17O.  The commission shall provide to an active or retired employee of the commonwealth who is insured under the group insurance commission coverage for acupuncture and oriental medicine based diagnosis and treatment in the areas of pain management, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse treatment.

SECTION XB. Chapter 175 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after section 47GG the following section:

Section 47HH. All individual or group accident and health insurance policies and health service contracts delivered, issued or renewed by an insurer or nonprofit health service corporation which provide benefits to individual subscribers and members within the commonwealth or to all group members having a principal place of employment within the commonwealth shall provide benefits for acupuncture and oriental medicine based diagnosis and treatment in the areas of pain management, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse treatment.

SECTION XC. Said chapter 175, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the section 205 the following section:

Section 205A. The commissioner shall not approve a policy under section 205 that does not provide benefits for acupuncture and oriental medicine based diagnosis and treatment in the areas of pain management, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse treatment.

SECTION XD. Chapter 176A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after section 8HH the following section:

Section 8II. Any contract between a subscriber and the corporation under an individual or group hospital service plan delivered, issued or renewed in the commonwealth shall provide as benefits to all individual subscribers and members within the commonwealth and to all group members having a principal place of employment within the commonwealth acupuncture and oriental medicine based diagnosis and treatment in the areas of pain management, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse treatment.

SECTION XE. Chapter 176B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after section 4II the following section:

Section 4JJ. Any subscription certificate under an individual or group medical service agreement delivered, issued or renewed in the commonwealth shall provide benefits to all individual subscribers and members within the commonwealth and to all group members having a principal place of employment within the commonwealth for acupuncture and oriental medicine based diagnosis and treatment in the areas of pain management, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse treatment.

SECTION XF. Chapter 176G of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 4AA the following section:

Section 4BB. Any group health maintenance contract shall provide coverage for acupuncture and oriental medicine based diagnosis and treatment in the areas of pain management, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse treatment.

SECTION XG. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no third party payer of health care services shall differentiate reimbursement rates for acupuncture services by provider type. Only licensed acupuncturists or medical doctors shall be reimbursed for acupuncture services.