New Hampshire insurers can no longer require members to pre-approve before receiving coverage for emergency mental health care and substance use care provided by mobile crisis management teams outside of licensed hospitals.
The new law Senate Bill 85aims to make it easier to get emergency treatment coverage right outside the emergency room without waiting for insurance company approval.
The state insurance department on Tuesday called the change, which went into effect this month, a “very significant” change in its review of legal priorities for 2023.
“We are very excited to see this bill pass,” said Jason Dexter, who oversees life and health insurance for the department.
The law is State expansion in 2022 On responding to the growing mental health and substance use disorder crisis. Lawmakers added a 24/7 crisis call center and invested $52.4 million to introduce mobile crisis response to all 10 counties. This is more than double the three previous counties of Concord, Manchester and Nashua.
A bipartisan initiative led by Ulfebolo Republican Senate Speaker Jeb Bradley aims to help insurers that provide mental health care and drug use disorder treatment coverage access to care and emergency stabilization services from mobile crisis teams. No pre-approval is required. Previously, insurance companies could require pre-approval if care was provided outside of a licensed hospital emergency facility.
Legislators, state leaders, and behavioral health providers say crisis call centers and mobile crisis teams are important alternatives for those who can safely stay home. overcrowded emergency roomneed timely treatment.
on Wednesday, 28 adults in emergency room Inpatient treatment based on an involuntary emergency admission application, used when there is a concern of danger to oneself or others. A shortage of treatment beds is also delaying hospital care for at-risk children. Seven children were waiting for bed on Wednesday.
The bill passed the Senate fairly easily, but faced opposition from Republicans on the House Health, Human Services, and Aging Affairs Committee, which, in line with party policy, repealed the bill throughout the House. I voted yes.
Delhi Republican MP Erica Rayon said at a committee meeting in March that the bill would allow citizens to “self-report” eligible medical emergencies and receive insurance without prior approval from insurance companies. He expressed concern that
“I greatly appreciate the intent of this bill,” Rayon said at a committee meeting. “If we talk about self-reported mental health crises, I think it opens the door to a very, very, very large service delivery. I cannot support it.”
Rep. Lucy Weber, a Walpole Democrat, disagreed with Rayon’s interpretation during the committee’s debate.
“The only thing that would change if we adopted this … is where the service delivery takes place,” she said. It happens close to the patient, not in a hospital. Therefore, I don’t think it will be a complaint that “I’m a little uneasy today”. “
The new law, which was passed by the entire House of Representatives in June, also creates a committee to consider sustainable payment methods for behavioral health crisis programs.
