Missouri Statutes
Parity Report
Legislation Signed into Law
2021
Primary Focus | Ensures equitable insurance coverage for mental health conditions at the state level |
Title/Description | Requires MO health carriers to comply with the “Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Requirements” |
Citation | Business and Financial Institutions, Chapter 376, Section 1551 (376.1551) |
Summary | In part, this new law prohibits insurance companies from imposing limitations on mental health benefits that are more stringent than those applied to medical or surgical benefits. The language brings Missouri in line with the Federal Parity Law. The insurance director is authorized to promulgate rules to implement the new law for health carriers. Certain plans including small group and individual policies that were sold before 2014 are exempted from the new law |
Effective Date | January 1, 2022. |
Notes | Enacted through HB 604; signed by the Governor on July 7, 2021. |
2019
Primary Focus | Mandated Benefit: MAT |
Title/Description | MAT coverage and provider prescribing abilities |
Summary | The law requires every insurance company and health service corporation to offer, in all insurance policies, coverage for MAT. The law allows qualifying assistant physicians, advanced nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, under supervision, to prescribe buprenorphine for up to a thirty-day supply without refills for MAT patients. |
Notes |
2018
Primary Focus | Mandated Benefit: Provider |
Title/Description | Mental health coverage, requirements — definitions — exclusions |
Citation | § 376.1550 R.S.Mo. |
Summary | Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, each health carrier that offers or issues health benefit plans which are delivered, issued for delivery, continued, or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2005, are to provide coverage for mental health conditions as defined. Specifically, mental health condition means any condition or disorder defined by categories listed in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. |
Effective Date | 7/6/2018 |
Notes | Enacted through SB 718 (99th General Assembly Second Regular Session) |
2016
Primary Focus | Access to services/Eligibility |
Title/Description | Medical services for which payment will be made — co-payments may be required — reimbursement for services |
Citation | § 208.152 R.S.Mo |
Summary | MO HealthNet payments will be made for mental health services. The state plan for providing medical assistance under the law is to include the following mental health services when such services are provided by community mental health facilities operated by the department of mental health or designated by the department of mental health as a community mental health facility or as an alcohol and drug abuse facility or as a child-serving agency within the comprehensive children’s mental health service system: outpatient mental health services, clinical mental health services, and rehabilitative mental health services. Beginning July 1, 2016, providers of behavioral, social, and psychophysiological services for the prevention, treatment, or management of physical health problems shall be reimbursed utilizing the behavior assessment and intervention reimbursement codes 96150 to 96154 or their successor codes under the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) coding system. Providers eligible for such reimbursement shall include psychologists. |
Effective Date | 10/14/2016 |
Notes | Enacted through SB 608 (2016 Regular Session) |
2015
Primary Focus | Mandated Benefit: Eating Disorders |
Title/Description | Insurance coverage for diagnosis and treatment |
Citation | § 376.845 R.S.Mo |
Summary | All health benefit plans that are delivered, issued for delivery, continued or renewed on or after January 1, 2017, if written inside the state of Missouri, or written outside the state of Missouri but covering Missouri residents, are to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders. |
Effective Date | 8/28/2015 |
Notes | Enacted through SB 145 (2015 Regular Session) |
2013
SB 262
Introduced | 2/2013 |
Sponsor | Sen. Pearce |
Status | Signed into Law 7/2013 |
Summary | This bill required the oversight division of the joint committee on legislative research to conduct a study to determine the financial impact of required insurance coverage for eating disorders (it also required the committee to study the financial impact of required coverage of an anti-cancer medication). The study was to assume the following:
This results of this study may have assisted in the passage of SB 145 from the 2015 legislative session, which required insurance plans to cover eating disorder treatment. This section of this bill is very similar to a section of SB 161, which passed in the same legislative session. |
SB 161
Introduced | 1/2013 |
Sponsor | Sen. Pearce |
Status | Signed into Law 7/2013 |
Summary | This bill required the oversight division of the joint committee on legislative research to conduct a study to determine the financial impact of required insurance coverage for eating disorders (it also required the committee to study the financial impact of required coverage of an anti-cancer medication). The study was to assume the following:
This results of this study may have assisted in the passage of SB 145 from the 2015 legislative session, which required insurance plans to cover eating disorder treatment. |
2010
HB 1311
Introduced | 12/2009 (pre-filed) |
Sponsor | Rep. Scharnhorst and Rep. Grill |
Summary | This bill changed the section of the state insurance law about autism coverage to what it is currently. This section of the law is summarized near the bottom of this page. HB 1341 was initially a separate bill. The part of the bill about insurance coverage is a compromise between the original versions of HB 1311 and HB 1341. This section of the law was also a part of an early version of SB 583 but was removed before the bill was signed into law. This bill also changed the section of the state Occupations and Professionals law to create the Applied Behavior Analyst Advisory Board in addition to creating licensure standards for practitioners of applied behavior analysis. |
2009
Primary Focus | Mandated Benefit: Provider |
Title/Description | Coverage required for chemical dependency by all insurance and health service corporations—minimum standards—offer of coverage may be accepted or rejected by policyholders, companies may offer as standard coverage—mental health benefits provided, when—exclusions |
Citation | § 376.811 R.S.Mo |
Summary | Every insurance company and health services corporation doing business in the state is to offer in all health insurance policies benefits or coverage for chemical dependency meeting certain minimum standards. Further, every insurance company, health services corporation and health maintenance organization doing business in the is to offer in all health insurance policies, benefits or coverages for recognized mental illness, excluding chemical dependency, meeting certain minimum standards. |
Effective Date | 8/28/2009 |
Notes | Enacted through HB 326 (2009 Regular Session) |
National Parity Map
View the state parity reports to learn about legislation, regulation, and litigation related to parity implementation
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- Missouri Insurance Division
- http://insurance.mo.gov/consumers/complaints/
- 800-726-7390
Common Violations
In seeking care or services, be aware of the common ways parity rights can be violated.