Requires certain health insurance policies to provide coverage for diabetes and prediabetes screening.
Summary
S00634 would require a broad set of New York health insurance policies to cover screening for diabetes and prediabetes for people with a body mass index (BMI) of 23 or greater. The mandate applies to individual policies, group and blanket accident and health policies, and contracts issued by medical expense indemnity corporations and health service corporations, so long as they include physician office services or major medical/comprehensive coverage.
The bill also prohibits insurers from charging any deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or other cost-sharing for the required screening. It applies to policies and contracts issued, renewed, modified, altered, or amended on or after the effective date, which is immediate. In practical terms, the bill expands preventive screening benefits and makes the screening available without out-of-pocket cost at the point of service.
Impact
The bill amends sections 3216, 3221, and 4303 of the New York Insurance Law to add a new coverage mandate for diabetes and prediabetes screening tied to BMI threshold criteria. It would affect individual health insurance policies, group and blanket policies, and certain nonprofit/health service corporation contracts, requiring insurers to cover the screening without cost-sharing. The measure would likely increase preventive screening access for covered enrollees and could increase insurer claims costs, while potentially supporting earlier detection and treatment of diabetes risk.
Sentiment
The available voting history shows strong support for the bill. It passed the Senate Insurance Committee unanimously, advanced through the Senate Rules Committee unanimously, and received overwhelming floor approval with only one dissenting vote in each recorded floor passage. No committee transcript is available, but the vote pattern suggests broad bipartisan or near-unanimous agreement that the coverage mandate is a desirable preventive health measure.
Contention
There is little visible contention in the available record, but the main policy issue is the insurance mandate itself: requiring plans to cover a specific screening and to do so without deductibles, copays, or coinsurance. Any concerns would likely center on added costs to insurers and premiums, the use of BMI as a screening trigger, and whether the mandate is appropriately targeted. The near-unanimous votes indicate that, whatever objections existed, they were not substantial enough to prevent passage.
Requires that health insurance policies shall provide coverage for follow-up screening or diagnostic services for lung cancer; provides that no patient cost sharing shall be imposed for follow-up screening or diagnostic services for lung cancer.
Requires that health insurance policies shall provide coverage for follow-up screening or diagnostic services for lung cancer; provides that no patient cost sharing shall be imposed for follow-up screening or diagnostic services for lung cancer.