An Act To Require Health Insurers To Provide Coverage for Nutritional Wellness and Prevention Measures and Products
Sec. 1. 24-A MRSA §4316 is enacted to read:
§ 4316. Coverage for nutritional wellness and prevention
(1) Is intended to supplement the diet and contains one or more dietary ingredients, including, but not limited to, vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, amino acids, concentrates, metabolites, extracts and other substances and their constituents;
(2) Is intended for ingestion in pill, capsule, tablet or liquid form;
(3) Is not represented for use as a conventional food or the sole item of a meal or diet; and
(4) Is labeled as a dietary supplement.
Sec. 2. Application. The requirements of this Act apply to all policies, contracts and certificates executed, delivered, issued for delivery, continued or renewed in this State on or after January 1, 2010. For purposes of this Act, all contracts are deemed to be renewed no later than the next yearly anniversary of the contract date.
summary
The purpose of this bill is to improve health, reduce health care usage and costs and help prevent disease through nutritional wellness and prevention measures and allow for nonpharmacological alternatives to enrollees who choose them. The bill requires that health insurance policies provide coverage for nutritional wellness and prevention that is shown to be beneficial to the enrollee and recommended by the enrollee's physician. The bill applies to all individual and group policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2010.