South Carolina General Assembly
122nd Session, 2017-2018

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Indicates New Matter

H. 4092

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Bedingfield, Fry, Henderson and Huggins
Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11116vr17.docx

Introduced in the House on April 4, 2017
Currently residing in the House Committee on Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs

Summary: Medicaid Health Plans

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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    4/4/2017  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 85)
    4/4/2017  House   Referred to Committee on Medical, Military, Public and 
                        Municipal Affairs (House Journal-page 85)

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

4/4/2017

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 44-6-115 SO AS TO REQUIRE MEDICAID HEALTH PLANS TO ENSURE ACCESS TO APPROPRIATE CLINICAL SERVICES FOR THE EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OF OPIOID USE DISORDERS, INCLUDING ACCESS TO MEDICATIONS.

Whereas, addiction is a chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory, and related circuity; and

Whereas, without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death; and

Whereas, like other chronic diseases, such as type two diabetes or hypertension, opioid addiction cannot be cured but can be treated and managed; and

Whereas, evidence-based best practice for treatment of opioid disorders underscores the importance of patient access to appropriate medications without unnecessary barriers. Now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Article 1, Chapter 6, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 44-6-115.    The department shall prohibit Medicaid health plans from limiting patient access to medications that treat opioid addiction including, but not limited to, through dosage limitations, duration of treatment limitations, extensive prior authorization requirements, and fail-first or step therapy requirements, and shall guarantee unrestricted access to any FDA-approved treatment options available for individuals who have completed a detoxification program. Medicaid health plans must offer accessibility to the full range of appropriate clinical services for the effective treatment of opioid use disorders, including medications, psychosocial therapy, and recovery support services."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on April 7, 2017 at 3:29 PM