10123.81.
(a) (1) A disability insurance policy or self-insured employee welfare benefit plan shall be deemed to provide coverage for mammography for screening or diagnostic purposes upon the referral of a participating nurse practitioner, participating certified nurse-midwife, participating physician assistant, or participating physician, providing care to the patient and operating within the scope of practice provided under existing law.(2) This subdivision does not prevent the application of copayment or deductible provisions in a policy, nor does this section require that a policy be extended to cover any other procedures under an individual or a group
policy.
(b) (1) A health insurance policy that provides hospital, medical, or surgical coverage or a self-insured employee welfare benefit plan issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, shall provide coverage without imposing cost sharing for screening mammography, medically necessary diagnostic or supplemental breast examinations, diagnostic mammography, tests for screening or diagnostic purposes, and medically necessary diagnostic breast imaging, including diagnostic breast imaging following an abnormal mammography result and for an insured indicated to have a risk factor associated with breast cancer, including family
history or known genetic mutation. Diagnostic breast imaging includes breast magnetic resonance imaging, breast ultrasound, and other clinically indicated diagnostic testing. Diagnostic breast imaging, diagnostic mammography, and diagnostic and supplemental breast examinations, or other clinically indicated diagnostic testing are covered under this subdivision to the extent it is consistent with nationally recognized evidence-based clinical guidelines.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply to a health insurance policy that meets the definition of a “high deductible health plan” set forth in Section 223(c)(2) of Title 26 of the United States Code only after an enrollee’s deductible has been satisfied for the year.
(c) (1) This section does not authorize an insured to
receive the services required to be covered by this section if those services are furnished by a nonparticipating provider, except as specified in paragraph (2).
(2) An insurer shall arrange for the provision of services required by this section from providers outside the insurer’s contracted network if those services are unavailable within the network to ensure timely access to covered health care services consistent with Sections 10133 and 10133.54.
(d) This section does not apply to specialized health insurance, Medicare supplement insurance, CHAMPUS supplement
insurance, or TRI-CARE supplement insurance, or to hospital indemnity, accident-only, or specified disease insurance.
(e) Subdivision (b) does not preclude a disability insurer that provides coverage for out-of-network benefits from imposing cost-sharing requirements for the items or services described in this section that are delivered by an out-of-network provider, except in the situation described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) and as otherwise required by law.
(f) For the purposes of this section:
(1) “Breast magnetic resonance imaging” means a diagnostic tool that uses a powerful magnetic field, radio waves, and a computer to produce detailed pictures of the structures within the breast.
(2) “Breast ultrasound” means a noninvasive diagnostic tool that uses high-frequency sound.
(3) “Cost sharing” means a deductible, coinsurance, or copayment, and any maximum limitation on the application of that deductible, coinsurance, or copayment, or a similar out-of-pocket expense.
(4) “Diagnostic breast examination” means a medically necessary and appropriate examination of the breast, including an examination using diagnostic mammography, breast magnetic resonance imaging, breast ultrasound, or other clinically indicated diagnostic testing that is either of the following:
(A) Used to evaluate an abnormality seen or suspected from a screening
examination for breast cancer.
(B) Necessary based on personal or family medical history or additional factors, including known genetic mutations, that may increase the individual’s risk of breast cancer.
(5) “Diagnostic mammography” means a diagnostic tool that uses x-ray and is designed to evaluate an abnormality in the breast.
(6) “Supplemental breast examination” means a medically necessary and appropriate examination of the breast, including an examination using breast magnetic resonance imaging, breast ultrasound, or other clinically indicated diagnostic testing that is either of the following:
(A) Used to screen for breast cancer when an abnormality is not
seen or suspected.
(B) Necessary based on personal or family medical history or additional factors, including known genetic mutations, that may increase the individual’s risk of breast cancer.