§1034.  Health insurance coverage for diabetes

A.  Any hospital, health, or medical expense insurance policy, hospital or medical service contract, health and accident insurance policy, or any other contract of this type providing comprehensive major medical benefits, including a group insurance plan, or any policy of family group, blanket, or association health and accident insurance, a self-insurance plan, an employee welfare benefit plan, or a health maintenance organization subscriber agreement which is issued or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 1998, or the Office of Group Benefits programs shall provide coverage for the equipment, supplies, and outpatient self-management training and education, including medical nutrition therapy, for the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes, insulin-using diabetes, gestational diabetes, and non-insulin using diabetes if prescribed by a physician or, if applicable, the patient's primary care physician.

B.(1)  Every health insurance policy shall include coverage for a one time evaluation and training program per policy for diabetes self-management when medically necessary as determined by a physician and when provided by an appropriately licensed health care professional upon certification by the health care professional providing the training that the insured patient has successfully completed the training. Such programs shall be provided by a health care professional in compliance with the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education Program as developed by the American Diabetes Association.  The coverage afforded by this Paragraph shall not exceed five hundred dollars.

(2)  In addition to the evaluation and training program provided in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, coverage for additional diabetes self-management training shall be provided if a physician prescribes such additional training based upon its medical necessity because of a significant change in the insured's symptoms or conditions.  This additional coverage shall be limited to one hundred dollars per year and a lifetime limit of two thousand dollars per insured.

(3)  The diabetes self-management training provided in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Subsection shall be provided by a health care professional within his scope of practice after having demonstrated expertise in diabetes care and treatment and after having completed an educational program required by his licensing board when that program is in compliance with the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education Program as developed by the American Diabetes Association.

C.  The benefits provided in this Section shall be subject to the same annual deductibles or co-insurance established for all other covered benefits within a given policy.

D.(1)  The provisions of the Section shall not apply to limited benefit health insurance policies or contracts authorized to be issued in this state.

(2)  The provisions of this Section shall not apply to medical benefit plans that are established under and regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974.

Acts 1997, No. 875, §1; Acts 2001, No. 1178, §2, eff. June 29, 2001; Acts 2003, No. 129, §1, eff. May 28, 2003; Redesignated from R.S. 22:215.21 by Acts 2008, No. 415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2010, No. 919, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2011.