Bill > S556

This bill aims to expand access to habilitative services for children in the Commonwealth by defining "developmental delay" as a disability diagnosed by a licensed physician that hinders a person's age-appropriate physical, intellectual, communicative, emotional, and social development, and defining "treatment of developmental delay" to include medically necessary habilitative or rehabilitative care, pharmacy, psychiatric, psychological, and therapeutic services prescribed by a licensed physician or psychologist. These definitions and services are being incorporated into various sections of Massachusetts General Laws concerning insurance and health care, specifically chapters 32A, 175, 176A, 176B, and 176G, to ensure that the diagnosis and treatment of developmental delay in children under 19 are covered, and to clarify that providers offering such services are recognized.