Bill > S1320

This bill mandates that various health insurers, including hospital and medical service corporations, commercial individual and group health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and state-administered health plans like the State Health Benefits Program and the School Employees' Health Benefits Program, must provide coverage for medically necessary treatments for tick-borne diseases. A tick-borne disease is defined as an illness transmitted by an infected tick's bite, encompassing infections like Lyme disease (caused by *borrelia burgdorferi*), its complications, and other tick-borne illnesses recognized by the CDC. Importantly, coverage for these treatments, which may include long-term antibiotic therapy (defined as antibiotic treatment exceeding four weeks) and ongoing testing, cannot be denied simply because the treatment is considered experimental or investigational, or if it involves using a prescription drug "off-label" (meaning for a purpose not specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA), provided the drug is recognized as medically appropriate in a widely accepted medical compendium or recommended by a major peer-reviewed journal.

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https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2026/S1320