Amd 3217-h, 3216, 3221, 4303 & 4306-g, Ins L; amd 2999-cc, Pub Health L; amd 365-a, Soc Serv L
 
Requires insurers to provide coverage for delivery through store and forward technology; requires prescription drug policies to cover the cost of contraceptive care delivered via telemedicine.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6741--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 29, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Insurance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, the public health law and the social
services law, in relation to requiring coverage for delivery through
store and forward technology
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. The Legislature here-
2 by finds that there is a serious health concern in insurance policies
3 denying coverage for contraceptive care. The Legislature also finds that
4 throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has been essential for
5 patients across the state to receive care safely.
6 This Act enacts various provisions requiring that insurance policies
7 cover services provided through telemedicine, including requirements
8 that insurers provide coverage for contraceptive care, that will allow
9 patients across the state to receive care and limit the risk of
10 infection of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.
11 § 2. Subsection (a) of section 3217-h of the insurance law, as added
12 by chapter 6 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
13 (a) An insurer shall not exclude from coverage a service that is
14 otherwise covered under a policy that provides comprehensive coverage
15 for hospital, medical or surgical care, or prescription drugs because
16 the service is delivered via telehealth or through store and forward
17 technology, as [that term is] such terms are defined in subsection (b)
18 of this section [; provided, however, that an insurer may exclude from
19 coverage a service by a health care provider where the provider is not
20 otherwise covered under the policy] and in section twenty-nine hundred
21 ninety-nine-cc of the public health law. An insurer may subject the
22 coverage of a service delivered via telehealth to co-payments, coinsu-
23 rance or deductibles provided that they are at least as favorable to the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09437-02-1
A. 6741--A 2
1 insured as those established for the same service when not delivered via
2 telehealth. An insurer may subject the coverage of a service delivered
3 via telehealth to reasonable utilization management and quality assur-
4 ance requirements that are consistent with those established for the
5 same service when not delivered via telehealth.
6 § 3. Subsection (i) of section 3216 of the insurance law is amended by
7 adding a new paragraph 36 to read as follows:
8 (36) Every policy which provides coverage for prescription drugs shall
9 include coverage for the cost of contraceptive care delivered through
10 store and forward technology as authorized by section twenty-nine
11 hundred ninety-nine-cc of the public health law.
12 § 4. Subsection (l) of section 3221 of the insurance law is amended by
13 adding a new paragraph 22 to read as follows:
14 (22) Every policy which provides coverage for prescription drugs shall
15 include coverage for the cost of contraceptive care delivered through
16 store and forward technology in accordance with section twenty-nine
17 hundred ninety-nine-cc of the public health law.
18 § 5. Section 4303 of the insurance law is amended by adding a new
19 subsection (ss) to read as follows:
20 (ss) Every contract issued by a hospital service corporation or a
21 health service corporation which provides coverage for prescription
22 drugs shall include coverage for the cost of contraceptive care deliv-
23 ered through store and forward technology as that term is defined in
24 section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-cc of the public health law.
25 § 6. Subsection (a) of section 4306-g of the insurance law, as added
26 by chapter 6 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
27 (a) A corporation shall not exclude from coverage a service that is
28 otherwise covered under a contract that provides comprehensive coverage
29 for hospital, medical or surgical care, or prescription drugs because
30 the service is delivered via telehealth[,] or through store and forward
31 technology as [that term is] such terms are defined in subsection (b) of
32 this section [; provided, however, that a corporation may exclude from
33 coverage a service by a health care provider where the provider is not
34 otherwise covered under the contract] and in section twenty-nine hundred
35 ninety-nine-cc of the public health law. A corporation may subject the
36 coverage of a service delivered via telehealth to co-payments, coinsu-
37 rance or deductibles provided that they are at least as favorable to the
38 insured as those established for the same service when not delivered via
39 telehealth. A corporation may subject the coverage of a service deliv-
40 ered via telehealth to reasonable utilization management and quality
41 assurance requirements that are consistent with those established for
42 the same service when not delivered via telehealth.
43 § 7. Subdivision 6 of section 2999-cc of the public health law, as
44 added by chapter 6 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
45 6. "Store and forward technology" means the asynchronous, electronic
46 transmission of a patient's health information [in the form of patient-
47 specific digital images and/or pre-recorded videos from a provider at]
48 from an originating site to a telehealth provider at a distant site.
49 § 8. Subdivision 2 of section 365-a of the social services law is
50 amended by adding a new paragraph (ii) to read as follows:
51 (ii) care and services provided by a telehealth provider pursuant to
52 section twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-cc of the public health law.
53 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately.