The bill amends existing laws to enhance reimbursement practices for behavioral and mental health care providers in New Mexico. It introduces a new requirement that insurers, carriers, and health care plans must pay or reimburse these providers for all medically necessary services they perform, irrespective of their designation as behavioral or mental health care providers, as long as the services fall within the scope of their licenses. This provision aims to ensure that mental health and substance use disorder services are treated equitably in terms of reimbursement compared to other medical services.

Additionally, the bill emphasizes the need for parity in coverage and reimbursement for mental health and substance use disorder services. It prohibits insurers from imposing more restrictive quantitative treatment limitations or non-quantitative treatment limitations on these services compared to other medical benefits. The amendments also include the insertion of "PARITY FOR REIMBURSEMENT" in various sections, reinforcing the commitment to equitable treatment of mental health services in insurance practices.

Statutes affected:
introduced version: 13-7-32, 59A-23-24, 59A-46-63, 59A-47-58