1. Sections 191.1164 to 191.1168 shall be known and may be cited as the “Ensuring Access to High Quality Care for the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders Act”.

2. As used in sections 191.1164 to 191.1168, the following terms shall mean:

(1) “Behavioral therapy”, an individual, family, or group therapy designed to help patients engage in the treatment process, modify their attitudes and behaviors related to substance use, and increase healthy life skills;

(2) “Department of insurance”, the department that has jurisdiction regulating health insurers;

(3) “Financial requirements”, deductibles, co-payments, coinsurance, or out-of-pocket maximums;

(4) “Health care professional”, a physician or other health care practitioner licensed, accredited, or certified by the state of Missouri to perform specified health services;

(5) “Health insurance plan”, an individual or group plan that provides, or pays the cost of, health care items or services;

(6) “Health insurer”, any person or entity that issues, offers, delivers, or administers a health insurance plan;

(7) “Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA)”, the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 found at 42 U.S.C. § 300gg-26 and its implementing and related regulations found at 45 C.F.R. § 146.136, 45 C.F.R. § 147.160, and 45 C.F.R. § 156.115;

(8) “Nonquantitative treatment limitation” or “NQTL”, any limitation on the scope or duration of treatment that is not expressed numerically;

(9) “Pharmacologic therapy”, a prescribed course of treatment that may include methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, or other FDA-approved or evidence-based medications for the treatment of substance use disorder;

(10) “Pharmacy benefits manager”, an entity that contracts with pharmacies on behalf of health carriers or any health plan sponsored by the state or a political subdivision of the state;

(11) “Prior authorization”, the process by which the health insurer or the pharmacy benefits manager determines the medical necessity of otherwise covered health care services prior to the rendering of such health care services. Prior authorization also includes any health insurer’s or utilization review entity’s requirement that a subscriber or health care provider notify the health insurer or utilization review entity prior to receiving or providing a health care service;

(12) “Quantitative treatment limitation” or “QTL”, numerical limits on the scope or duration of treatment, which include annual, episode, and lifetime day and visit limits;

(13) “Step therapy”, a protocol or program that establishes the specific sequence in which prescription drugs for a medical condition that are medically appropriate for a particular patient are authorized by a health insurer or prescription drug management company;

(14) “Urgent health care service”, a health care service with respect to which the application of the time period for making a nonexpedited prior authorization, in the opinion of a physician with knowledge of the enrollee’s medical condition:

(a) Could seriously jeopardize the life or health of the subscriber or the ability of the enrollee to regain maximum function; or

(b) Could subject the enrollee to severe pain that cannot be adequately managed without the care or treatment that is the subject of the utilization review.

3. For the purpose of this section, “urgent health care service” shall include services provided for the treatment of substance use disorders.