This bill mandates that insurance providers cover a variety of pain management therapies as alternatives to opioid treatments, introducing new sections to RSA 415. Insurers are required to offer coverage for non-opioid pain management services, including behavioral health interventions, manual treatments, movement therapies, acupuncture, and massage therapy, with a minimum of 12 visits for these services. Additionally, insurers must develop and submit a comprehensive pain services management plan for approval, which will detail the covered services and must be posted on their public websites. The bill also emphasizes the need for equitable treatment standards between allopathic and non-allopathic providers and prohibits insurers from imposing more restrictive utilization controls on non-opioid therapies compared to those applied to opioid medications. Furthermore, the bill includes provisions for the external review process to assess the costs and benefits associated with the new coverage mandate, which is expected to lead to increased claims costs and potentially higher premiums. The bill does not include any deletions from current law and is set to take effect on July 1, 2025. However, it is important to note that the rates for the plan year 2025 have already been established, which may result in insufficient premiums to cover the potential claims arising from the newly mandated services, potentially impacting the financial stability of the insurance companies involved.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 420-A:2, 420-B:20