Cost-sharing for certain office visits for infants, children, and adolescents prohibited.
Summary
HF773 would amend Minnesota’s health insurance statutes to bar health plan companies from charging cost-sharing for certain short office visits for infants, children, and adolescents. The bill applies when the primary purpose of the visit is to provide evidence-informed preventive care and screenings identified in comprehensive guidelines supported by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and when the visit lasts 15 minutes or less.
The bill also protects providers’ ability to bill separately for preventive items or services that are tracked or billed as separate encounter data. In practical terms, the measure is aimed at making routine pediatric preventive visits more accessible by eliminating copays, deductibles, or other out-of-pocket charges for qualifying visits.
Impact
The bill would add a new subdivision to Minnesota Statutes section 62Q.46, expanding existing health insurance protections related to preventive care. It would directly affect health plan companies by prohibiting cost-sharing for qualifying pediatric preventive office visits, and it would constrain insurers from blocking separate billing for preventive services when those services are properly itemized. The primary beneficiaries would be infants, children, adolescents, their families, and health care providers offering preventive screenings and care.
Sentiment
The available record shows the bill was introduced and referred to the House Committee on Health Finance and Policy, but no committee transcript or vote history is provided. Based on the bill’s purpose and caption, the measure appears to be framed as a consumer- and child-health protection intended to reduce barriers to preventive care. There is no recorded opposition or support in the supplied materials, so the overall sentiment cannot be measured from debate or voting data.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of debate, based on the text, could include the cost impact on insurers and premiums, how the 15-minute threshold would be interpreted and enforced, and whether the HRSA-supported guideline standard is sufficiently clear. Another possible issue is the interaction between the no-cost-sharing rule and providers’ separate billing practices for preventive services.
Authorizes the use of body imaging scanning equipment in certain facilities for youth and adolescent offenders placed with or committed to the office of children and family services.
Authorizes the use of body imaging scanning equipment in certain facilities for youth and adolescent offenders placed with or committed to the office of children and family services.