STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          7319
                    IN SENATE
                                     April 15, 2016
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by Sens. VENDITTO, MURPHY -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Insurance
        AN ACT to amend the insurance  law,  in  relation  to  requiring  health
          insurance coverage for drug and alcohol abuse and dependency treatment
          services
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subsection (i) of section 3216  of  the  insurance  law  is
     2  amended by adding a new paragraph 33 to read as follows:
     3    (33)  (A)  Every policy delivered or issued for delivery in this state
     4  which provides medical,  major  medical  or  similar  comprehensive-type
     5  coverage  shall include specific coverage for drug and alcohol abuse and
     6  dependency treatment services that are certified as necessary by a qual-
     7  ified health professional, as defined in the regulations of the  commis-
     8  sioner  of  alcoholism  and substance abuse services.  At a minimum such
     9  coverage shall include:
    10    (i) up to seven days of detoxification per admission, such detoxifica-
    11  tion may occur in a hospital or non-hospital residential facility;
    12    (ii) thirty days of rehabilitation per episode in a hospital  or  non-
    13  hospital residential facility;
    14    (iii)  thirty  sessions  of  outpatient or partial hospitalization per
    15  episode of care; and
    16    (iv) family counseling and intervention services.
    17    (B) The only prerequisite for the coverage of hospital or non-hospital
    18  based detoxification, including medically managed, medically  supervised
    19  and  medically  monitored withdrawal, or inpatient or intensive residen-
    20  tial rehabilitation, or intensive or routine outpatient treatment, shall
    21  be that a covered person be certified and referred by a qualified health
    22  professional. Such certification and referral  shall  control  both  the
    23  nature  and  duration of covered treatment; provided, however, that such
    24  coverage shall be terminated when the admitting or attending  physician,
    25  or a physician assistant or nurse practitioner providing detoxification,
    26  rehabilitation  or  outpatient treatment certifies that admission of the
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11985-03-6