Rhode Island PANS PANDAS Updates

Senate Bill No. 2203 SUB B Passes

Senate Bill No. 2203 SUB B as amended and House Bill No. 7503  SUB B as amended have passed!! We are now waiting for the Governor to sign the bill.

SECTION 1. Chapter 27-18 of the General Laws entitled “Accident and Sickness Insurance Policies” is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 27-18-89. Mandatory coverage for treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome.

Highlights
  1. Every group health insurance contract, or every group hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state, by any health insurance carrier, on or after January 1, 2023, shall provide coverage for treatment PANS & PANDAS including, but not limited to, the use of intravenous immunoglobin therapy (IVIG).
  2. For billing and diagnosis purposes, PANS and PANDAS will be coded as autoimmune encephalitis until the American Medical Association and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services create and assign a specific code for PANS and PANDAS.
  3. The health care benefits outlined in this section must be provided within Rhode Island unless it can be established through a pre-authorization process that the required services are not available in the state of Rhode Island from a provider in the health insurance carrier’s network.
  4. Each health insurance carrier shall collect and provide to the office of the health insurance commissioner, in a form and frequency acceptable to the commissioner, information and data reflecting the costs and the savings of adding the benefit coverage provided in this section. On or before January 1, 2025, the office of the health insurance commissioner shall report to the general assembly a cost-benefit analysis of the implementation of the benefit coverage to determine if adding the benefit coverage for PANS and PANDAS produces a net savings to health insurance carriers and to policyholders. This section shall sunset and be repealed effective December 31, 2025
Senate Bill No. 2203

Bill Update: 03/03/2022 Committee recommended measure be held for further study

Bill Information: Senate Bill No. 2203 – AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE – Mandatory coverage for treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome

Sponsored By: Lawson, DiMario, Burke, Murray, Cano, Quezada, Valverde

(Requires coverage for the treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections/pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome, including, but not limited to, the use of intravenous immunoglobin therapy.

Bill: Read Full Bill

Look up Bills Status: https://status.rilegislature.gov

Address Letter of Support to: Senate Health and Human Services Committee

Email Testimony to:

ASPIRE Testimony:

House Bill No. 7503BY

Update: 03/09/2022 Committee recommended measure be held for further study

Thank you for submitting testimony in support of House Bill No. 7503BY. The Committee recommended the measure be held for further study.

Bill Information: House Bill No. 7503BY – AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE — ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE POLICIES {LC4745/1}

(Requires coverage for treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome, including, but not limited to, the use of intravenous immunoglobin therapy.)

ASPIRE Testimony:

Bill: Read Full Bill

Look up Bills Status: https://status.rilegislature.gov

 

Update! June 9th, 2021

The Senate Amendment Bill 064 passed the Senate!  Woohoo!!  But now we still need your help right now. It is not hard and does not take long so don’t worry if you have never contacted your state representatives before. 

The Rhode Island Senate passed a parallel bill (Amendment to Bill S 064: An Act Relating to Insurance to include the New Section: 27-18-85). The Senate and the House have to vote yes on their separate bills in order for it to move forward. So, we need the House to put their version of the bill on their schedule so they can vote on it. Otherwise, the bill can’t move forward.

Please Contact:

Call to Action Request:  Ask Representative Casey, Speaker Blazejewski, and Members of the House Health and Human Services Committee to support his bill HB 6209. Say you are a resident of Rhode Island; you can add your district information too. Then write a little bit about why your family or you yourself needs insurance coverage for PANS PANDAS.

For More Information on the HB6209: House Bill 6209 – Requires coverage for treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome, including, but not limited to, the use of intravenous immunoglobin therapy.

Brief Example of Letter to Representative Amore:

Dear Representative Casey, Speaker Blazejewski, and Members of the House Health and Human Services Committee,

Please support HB6209 and have it placed on the schedule for a vote. We are excited that Senate passed Bill 646 SUB A: An Act Relating to Insurance to include the New Section: 27-18-85. Now it is time for the House to pass HB6209.  We desperately need insurance coverage for PANS PANDAS in the state of Rhode Island.

Mention things like: I was not able to access care so treatment was delayed and symptoms got worse as a result. My child was no longer able to participate in school or x,y,z activity. It has impacted my child’s life because symptoms have caused x,y,z. My child should not have to suffer through a lifetime of mental health issues because my child was not able to access appropriate medical treatment due to a lack of insurance coverage.

Please vote Yes on HB6209

Signed,

 Name, Home Address. District X of Rhode Island

Rhode island pans pandas legislation aspire

 

 

 

 

Previous Updates – April 2021
Written Testimony for Senate Amendment to SB064

Submit written testimony in support of an Amendment to Bill S 064: An Act Relating to Insurance to include the New Section: 27-18-85 – Mandatory coverage for treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome.

Bill introduced by: Senators Lawson, Lombardo, Seveney, Quezada, Miller, Sosnowski, Cano, Pearson, Euer, and Burke

Email written testimony to: RI Legislature slegislation@rilegislature.gov

Link to Bill Amendment: http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0646.pdf

 

ASPIRE Board and Professional Advisory Board Testimony Letters

In Support of Amendment to Bill S 064: An Act Relating to Insurance to include the New Section: 27-18-85 – Mandatory coverage for treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome.

 

Gabriella True

Gabriella True

Published : July 2, 2022
Category : Blog, Featured on Homepage, Legislative Resources

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