A. Group health coverage, including any form of self-insurance, offered, issued or renewed under the Health Care Purchasing Act shall provide coverage for:

(1) well-baby and well-child screening for diagnosing the presence of autism spectrum disorder; and

(2) treatment of autism spectrum disorder through speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and applied behavioral analysis.

B. Coverage required pursuant to Subsection A of this section:

(1) shall be limited to treatment that is prescribed by the insured's treating physician in accordance with a treatment plan;

(2) shall not be denied on the basis that the services are habilitative or rehabilitative in nature;

(3) may be subject to other general exclusions of the group health coverage, including coordination of benefits, participating provider requirements, restrictions on services provided by family or household members and utilization review of health care services, including the review of medical necessity, case management and other managed care provisions; and

(4) may be limited to exclude coverage for services received under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 and related state laws that place responsibility on state and local school boards for providing specialized education and related services to children three to twenty-two years of age who have autism spectrum disorder.

C. Coverage for treatment of autism spectrum disorder through speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and applied behavioral analysis shall not be denied to an enrollee on the basis of the enrollee's age.

D. The coverage required pursuant to Subsection A of this section shall not be subject to deductibles or coinsurance provisions that are less favorable to a covered individual than the deductibles or coinsurance provisions that apply to physical illnesses that are generally covered under the group health coverage, except as otherwise provided in Subsection B of this section.

E. A group health plan shall not deny or refuse health coverage for medically necessary services or refuse to contract with, renew, reissue or otherwise terminate or restrict health coverage for an individual because the individual is diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder.

F. The treatment plan required pursuant to Subsection B of this section shall include all elements necessary for the group health coverage to pay claims appropriately. These elements include:

(1) the diagnosis;

(2) the proposed treatment by types;

(3) the frequency and duration of treatment;

(4) the anticipated outcomes stated as goals;

(5) the frequency with which the treatment plan will be updated; and

(6) the signature of the treating physician.

G. This section shall not be construed as limiting benefits and coverage otherwise available to an insured under group health coverage.

H. The provisions of this section shall not apply to policies intended to supplement major medical group-type coverages such as medicare supplement, long-term care, disability income, specified disease, accident-only, hospital indemnity or other limited-benefit health insurance policies.

I. As used in this section:

(1) "autism spectrum disorder" means:

(a) a condition that meets the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder published in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American psychiatric association; or

(b) a condition diagnosed as autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, pervasive development disorder not otherwise specified, Rett's disorder or childhood disintegrative disorder pursuant to diagnostic criteria published in a previous edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American psychiatric association;

(2) "habilitative or rehabilitative services" means treatment programs that are necessary to develop, maintain and restore to the maximum extent practicable the functioning of an individual; and

(3) "high school" means a school providing instruction for any of the grades nine through twelve.

History: Laws 2013, ch. 185, § 1; 2019, ch. 119, § 1.

The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, prohibited age limits on services related to autism spectrum disorder, and made conforming changes; in Subsection A, in the introductory clause, deleted "an eligible individual who is nineteen years of age or younger, or an eligible individual who is twenty-two years of age or younger and is enrolled in high school, for"; added a new Subsection C and redesignated former Subsections C through H as Subsections D through I, respectively; in Subsection I, Paragraph I(1), added subparagraph designations "(a)" and "(b)", in Subparagraph I(1)(a), after "diagnostic criteria", deleted "for the pervasive development disorders" and added "for autism spectrum disorder", in Subparagraph I(1)(b), added "a condition diagnosed as", and after "disintegrative disorder", added "pursuant to diagnostic criteria published in a previous edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American psychiatric association".