Insurers, businesses seek halt to mental health provision
Insurers, small business advocates and local chambers of commerce are asking House lawmakers to put the brakes on a late-moving bill that would require health insurance carriers to cover services from licensed education psychologists for students.
The health coverage mandate, which would expand the state's mental health parity law, has already cleared the Senate, and on Tuesday the bill was teed up by the House Ways and Means Committee for possible passage before a new Legislature convenes next Wednesday.
In a letter to House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Tuesday, a coalition led by Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans and Blue Cross Blue Shield urged the House not to pass the bill, suggesting it could add as much as $8 million to the cost of health coverage for small businesses and employees through higher premiums.
The groups also critiqued the bill, arguing it would "blur the line" between what has traditionally been covered by health insurance and services that are primarily educational.
"Senate bill 2416 would result in a major policy change in the commonwealth that will have the effect of shifting services that are educational in nature from the schools to private insurance," the letter argued.
The letter was also signed by the Massachusetts chapter of National Federation of Independent Business, the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Service Bureau, and Health Services Administrators.
The bill was originally filed almost two years ago in January 2013 by Sen. Richard Moore, an Uxbridge Democrat. The Senate Ways and Means Committee rewrote the bill, and the Senate passed it Dec. 18 during a lightly attended informal session.
Intended to expand student access to licensed education psychologists, the bill would add such providers to the list of licensed mental health professionals whose services must be covered by the Group Insurance Commission, private insurers, non-profit hospital service corporations, medical service corporations and health maintenance organizations (HMOs).
A Center for Health Information and Analysis report from July estimated the new mandate could cost between $2.2 million and $8.8 million, while Senate leaders said the new costs of the bill to the state could be covered through existing appropriations.
Thirteen members of the House Ways and Means Committee voted in favor of the bill on Tuesday, with none opposed and five representatives reserved their rights.
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