Kansas Statutes

This bill changed the state insurance law to include the current section that requires insurance plans to cover treatment for autism. The autism section of the insurance law in Kansas is very detailed. Please scroll to the bottom of this page to read a summary of that section of the law.
This bill also created the Applied Behavior Analysis Licensure Act, which is set to take effect on July 1, 2016. This section of the bill (sections 2-6) has very detailed standards for any provider who practices applied behavior analysis for children with autism.

This bill created the section of the state law that requires insurance plans for state government employees to cover autism services. A summary of that section of the law can be found at the bottom of the page.

Any group health insurance policy, medical service plan, contract, hospital service corporation contract, hospital and medical service corporation contract, fraternal benefit society or health maintenance organization that provides medical, surgical or hospital expense coverage shall include coverage for diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses and alcoholism, drug abuse or other substance use disorders.

Enacted by 2001 Kan. HB 2033; alcoholism, drug abuse, or substance use disorder provisions enacted by 2009 Kan. HB 2214.

Every insurer that issues any individual policy of accident and sickness insurance or group policy of accident and sickness insurance to a small employer that provides medical, surgical or hospital expense coverage for other than specific diseases or accidents only and that provides for reimbursement or indemnity for services rendered to a person covered by such policy in a medical care facility, must provide for reimbursement or indemnity under such individual policy or under such small employer group policy that shall be limited to not less than 45 days per year for in-patient treatment of mental illness in a licensed medical care facility, and not less than 30 days per year when such person is confined for treatment of alcoholism, drug abuse or substance use disorders in a licensed treatment facility for alcoholics, a licensed treatment facility for drug abusers, a licensed community mental health center or clinic, or a licensed psychiatric hospital.
Such individual policy or such small employer group policy shall also provide for reimbursement or indemnity of the costs of treatment of such person for mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse and substance use disorders subject to the same deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, out-of-pocket expenses and treatment limitations as apply to other covered services, limited to not less than $15,000 in such person’s lifetime, with no annual limits, in the facilities enumerated when in-patient treatment is not necessary for the treatment or by a physician licensed or psychologist licensed to practice under the laws of the state of Kansas.

Enacted by Kan. HB 2214.

An accident and sickness insurer which offers coverage through a group policy or certificate of coverage providing hospital, medical or surgical expense benefits, which includes mental illness or alcoholism, drug abuse or other substance use disorder benefits shall may not impose any aggregate lifetime limit on mental illness or alcoholism, drug abuse or other substance use disorder benefits if the policy does not include an aggregate lifetime limit on substantially all hospital, medical and surgical expense benefits.

Enacted by 1997 Kan. SB 204; most recently amended by Kan. HB 2214 to include mental illness.