(a) Each group health insurance policy providing coverage of the type specified in subdivisions (1), (2), (4), (10), (11) and (12) of section 38a-469 delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, amended or continued in this state shall provide access to a pain management specialist and coverage for pain treatment ordered by such specialist that may include all means medically necessary to make a diagnosis and develop a treatment plan including the use of necessary medications and procedures.
(b) (1) No such policy that provides coverage for prescription drugs shall require an insured to use, prior to using a brand name prescription drug prescribed by a licensed physician for pain treatment, any alternative brand name prescription drugs or over-the-counter drugs.
(2) Such policy may require an insured to use, prior to using a brand name prescription drug prescribed by a licensed physician for pain treatment, a therapeutically equivalent generic drug.
(c) As used in this section, “pain” means a sensation in which a person experiences severe discomfort, distress or suffering due to provocation of sensory nerves, and “pain management specialist” means a physician who is credentialed by the American Academy of Pain Management or who is a board-certified anesthesiologist, physiatrist, neurologist, oncologist or radiation oncologist with additional training in pain management.
(P.A. 00-216, S. 19, 28; P.A. 11-169, S. 2; P.A. 12-197, S. 21.)
History: P.A. 00-216 effective January 1, 2001; P.A. 11-169 designated existing provisions as Subsecs. (a) and (c), added Subsec. (b) prohibiting insurers from requiring insured to use alternative brand name prescription drugs or over-the-counter drugs prior to using brand name prescription drug prescribed for pain treatment, and made technical changes, effective January 1, 2012; P.A. 12-197 amended Subsec. (c) by adding physiatrist to definition of “pain management specialist”, effective June 15, 2012.
See Sec. 38a-492i re individual health insurance coverage for pain management.
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