Bill Text: NY S06212 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires blanket health insurance policies to provide coverage for outpatient treatment by mental health practitioners (mental health counsellors, marriage and family therapists, creative arts therapists and psychoanalysts) licensed pursuant to article 163 of the education law.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2019-12-06 - tabled [S06212 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S06212-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6212--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 23, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. KENNEDY, JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed 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, in relation to health insurance coverage of outpatient care provided by a mental health practitioner and a clinical social worker; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Items (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph 35 of 2 subsection (i) of section 3216 of the insurance law, as added by section 3 8 of subpart A of part BB of chapter 57 of the laws of 2019, are amended 4 to read as follows: 5 (i) where the policy provides coverage for inpatient hospital care, 6 such policy shall include benefits for inpatient care in a hospital as 7 defined by subdivision ten of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law and 8 benefits for outpatient care provided in a facility issued an operating 9 certificate by the commissioner of mental health pursuant to the 10 provisions of article thirty-one of the mental hygiene law, or in a 11 facility operated by the office of mental health, or, for care provided 12 in other states, to similarly licensed or certified hospitals or facili- 13 ties; and 14 (ii) where the policy provides coverage for physician services, such 15 policy shall include benefits for outpatient care provided by a psychia- 16 trist or psychologist licensed to practice in this state, a licensed 17 clinical social worker [who meets the requirements of subparagraph (D)18of paragraph four of subsection (1) of section three thousand two19hundred twenty-one of this article,] within the lawful scope of his or 20 her practice, who is licensed pursuant to article one hundred fifty-four 21 of the education law, a mental health counselor, marriage and family EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11946-02-9S. 6212--A 2 1 therapist, creative arts therapist or psychoanalyst licensed pursuant to 2 article one hundred sixty-three of the education law, a nurse practi- 3 tioner licensed to practice in this state, or a professional corporation 4 or university faculty practice corporation thereof. Nothing herein 5 shall be construed to modify or expand the scope of practice of a mental 6 health counselor, marriage and family therapist, creative arts therapist 7 or psychoanalyst licensed pursuant to article one hundred sixty-three of 8 the education law. 9 § 2. Subparagraph (A) of paragraph 4 of subsection (l) of section 3221 10 of the insurance law, as amended by section 11 of subpart A of part BB 11 of chapter 57 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 12 (A) Every insurer delivering a group policy or issuing a group policy 13 for delivery, in this state, that provides reimbursement for psychiatric 14 or psychological services or for the diagnosis and treatment of mental 15 health conditions, however defined in such policy, by physicians, 16 psychiatrists or psychologists, shall [make available and if requested17by the policyholder] provide the same coverage to insureds for such 18 services when performed by a licensed clinical social worker, within the 19 lawful scope of his or her practice, who is licensed pursuant to article 20 one hundred fifty-four of the education law[. Written notice of the21availability of such coverage shall be delivered to the policyholder22prior to inception of such group policy and annually thereafter, except23that this notice shall not be required where a policy covers two hundred24or more employees or where the benefit structure was the subject of25collective bargaining affecting persons who are employed in more than26one state.] and mental health counselors, marriage and family thera- 27 pists, creative arts therapists and psychoanalysts licensed pursuant to 28 article one hundred sixty-three of the education law, within the lawful 29 scope of his or her practice. Nothing herein shall be construed to modi- 30 fy or expand the scope of practice of a mental health counselor, 31 marriage and family therapist, creative arts therapist or psychoanalyst 32 licensed pursuant to article one hundred sixty-three of the education 33 law. 34 § 3. Subparagraph (D) of paragraph 4 of subsection (l) of section 3221 35 of the insurance law, as amended by section 12 of subpart A of part BB 36 of chapter 57 of the laws of 2019, is REPEALED. 37 § 4. Item (ii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph 5 of subsection (l) of 38 section 3221 of the insurance law, as amended by section 13 of subpart A 39 of part BB of chapter 57 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as 40 follows: 41 (ii) where the policy provides coverage for physician services, it 42 shall include benefits for outpatient care provided by a psychiatrist or 43 psychologist licensed to practice in this state, or a mental health 44 counselor, marriage and family therapist, creative arts therapist or 45 psychoanalyst licensed pursuant to article one hundred sixty-three of 46 the education law, or a licensed clinical social worker [who meets the47requirements of subparagraph (D) of paragraph four of this subsection] 48 within the lawful scope of his or her practice, who is licensed pursuant 49 to article one hundred fifty-four of the education law, a nurse practi- 50 tioner licensed to practice in this state, or a professional corporation 51 or university faculty practice corporation thereof. Nothing herein shall 52 be construed to modify or expand the scope of practice of a mental 53 health counselor, marriage and family therapist, creative arts therapist 54 or psychoanalyst licensed pursuant to article one hundred sixty-three of 55 the education law.S. 6212--A 3 1 § 5. Paragraph 2 of subsection (g) of section 4303 of the insurance 2 law, as added by section 22 of subpart A of part BB of chapter 57 of the 3 laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 4 (2) where the contract provides coverage for physician services such 5 contract shall provide benefits for outpatient care provided by a 6 psychiatrist or psychologist licensed to practice in this state, or a 7 mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist, creative arts 8 therapist or psychoanalyst licensed pursuant to article one hundred 9 sixty-three of the education law, or a licensed clinical social worker 10 [who meets the requirements of subsection (n) of this section] within 11 the lawful scope of his or her practice, who is licensed pursuant to 12 article one hundred fifty-four of the education law, a nurse practition- 13 er licensed to practice [on] in this state, or professional corporation 14 or university faculty practice corporation thereof. Nothing herein shall 15 be construed to modify or expand the scope of practice of a mental 16 health counselor, marriage and family therapist, creative arts therapist 17 or psychoanalyst licensed pursuant to article one hundred sixty-three of 18 the education law. 19 § 6. Subsection (i) of section 4303 of the insurance law, as amended 20 by section 25 of subpart A of part BB of chapter 57 of the laws of 2019, 21 is REPEALED. 22 § 7. Subsection (n) of section 4303 of the insurance law, as amended 23 by section 30 of subpart A of part BB of chapter 57 of the laws of 2019, 24 is amended to read as follows: 25 (n) [In addition to the requirements of subsection (i) of this26section, every] Every health service or medical expense indemnity corpo- 27 ration issuing a group contract pursuant to this section or a group 28 remittance contract for delivery in this state which contract provides 29 reimbursement to subscribers or physicians, psychiatrists or psychol- 30 ogists for psychiatric or psychological services or for the diagnosis 31 and treatment of mental health conditions, however defined in such 32 contract, must provide the same coverage to persons covered under the 33 group contract for such services when performed by a licensed clinical 34 social worker, within the lawful scope of his or her practice, who is 35 licensed pursuant to [subdivision two of section seven thousand seven36hundred four of the education law and in addition shall have either (i)37three or more additional years experience in psychotherapy, which for38the purposes of this subsection shall mean the use of verbal methods in39interpersonal relationships with the intent of assisting a person or40persons to modify attitudes and behavior which are intellectually,41socially or emotionally maladaptive, under supervision, satisfactory to42the state board for social work, in a facility, licensed or incorporated43by an appropriate governmental department, providing services for diag-44nosis or treatment of mental health conditions, or (ii) three or more45additional years experience in psychotherapy under the supervision,46satisfactory to the state board for social work, of a psychiatrist, a47licensed and registered psychologist or a licensed clinical social work-48er qualified for reimbursement pursuant to subsection (i) of this49section, or (iii) a combination of the experience specified in para-50graphs (i) and (ii) totaling three years, satisfactory to the state51board for social work.] article one hundred fifty-four of the education 52 law and a mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist, crea- 53 tive arts therapist or psychoanalyst licensed pursuant to article one 54 hundred sixty-three of the education law. Nothing herein shall be 55 construed to modify or expand the scope of practice of a mental health 56 counselor, marriage and family therapist, creative arts therapist orS. 6212--A 4 1 psychoanalyst licensed pursuant to article one hundred sixty-three of 2 the education law. The state board for social work shall maintain a list 3 of all licensed clinical social workers qualified for reimbursement 4 under this subsection. The state board for mental health practitioners 5 shall maintain a list of all licensed mental health counselors, marriage 6 and family therapists, creative arts therapists or psychoanalysts quali- 7 fied for reimbursement under this subsection. 8 § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 9 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law and shall apply to 10 policies and contracts issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended on 11 or after such effective date; provided, however, that: 12 (a) if section 8 of subpart A of part BB of chapter 57 of the laws of 13 2019 shall not have taken effect on or before such date then section one 14 of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner 15 as such chapter of the laws of 2019 takes effect; 16 (b) if section 11 of subpart A of part BB of chapter 57 of the laws of 17 2019 shall not have taken effect on or before such date then section two 18 of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as 19 such chapter of the laws of 2019 takes effect; 20 (c) if section 13 of subpart A of part BB of chapter 57 of the laws of 21 2019 shall not have taken effect on or before such date then section 22 four of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 23 manner as such chapter of the laws of 2019 takes effect; 24 (d) if section 22 of subpart A of part BB of chapter 57 of the laws of 25 2019 shall not have taken effect on or before such date then section 26 five of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 27 manner as such chapter of the laws of 2019 takes effect; and 28 (e) if section 30 of subpart A of part BB of chapter 57 of the laws of 29 2019 shall not have taken effect on or before such date then section 30 seven of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 31 manner as such chapter of the laws of 2019 takes effect.