SF 3789

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to health; regulating mental health coverage; 
  1.3             requiring coverage for social anxiety disorder; 
  1.4             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.5             chapter 62Q.  
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [FINDINGS.] 
  1.8      The legislature finds that: 
  1.9      (1) social anxiety disorder, or social phobia, is the most 
  1.10  common anxiety disorder, affecting approximately 7.9 percent of 
  1.11  Americans annually with a lifetime prevalence of 13.3 percent; 
  1.12     (2) compared to persons without this disorder, patients 
  1.13  with social anxiety disorder are four times as likely to develop 
  1.14  depression, three times as likely to develop panic, and two 
  1.15  times as likely to suffer from alcoholism; 
  1.16     (3) patients with social anxiety disorder are two times as 
  1.17  likely to attempt suicide as those without the disorder; 
  1.18     (4) annual direct medical costs are 25 percent higher on 
  1.19  average for patients suffering with social anxiety disorder than 
  1.20  those with no psychiatric disorder; and 
  1.21     (5) social anxiety disorder has been scientifically linked 
  1.22  to reduced quality of life, lower educational attainment, and 
  1.23  impairment of professional advancement and wage-earning ability. 
  1.24     Sec. 2.  [62Q.535] [COVERAGE FOR SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER.] 
  1.25     Subdivision 1.  [REQUIREMENT.] A health plan that provides 
  2.1   coverage for mental health services must cover medically 
  2.2   necessary treatment of social anxiety disorder. 
  2.3      The coverage is subject to any deductible, coinsurance, 
  2.4   copayment, or other limitation on coverage applicable to other 
  2.5   coverages under the plan. 
  2.6      Subd. 2.  [DEFINITION.] For purposes of subdivision 1, 
  2.7   "social anxiety disorder" means a condition that meets the 
  2.8   criteria for generalized social phobia in the Diagnostic and 
  2.9   Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, of the 
  2.10  American Psychiatric Association. 
  2.11     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.] 
  2.12     This act is effective August 1, 2000, and applies to health 
  2.13  plans offered, sold, issued, or renewed to provide coverage to 
  2.14  Minnesota residents on or after that date.