Bill > S606

This bill aims to improve public health by removing financial barriers to essential medical and behavioral health services, treatments, and prescription drugs that are deemed "high-value cost-effective." The Secretary of Health and Human Services will establish regulations to identify these services, with advice from a newly created Barrier-Free Care Expert Panel. This panel will consist of various healthcare professionals and experts, including primary care physicians, mental health clinicians, pharmacists, and specialists in health economics and consumer advocacy, all of whom must avoid financial conflicts of interest. The bill mandates that insurance plans, health coverage, and medical assistance programs, including those for state employees and various types of insurance like accident and sickness, hospital service plans, medical service agreements, and health maintenance contracts, must not charge "cost sharing" for these identified high-value services. Cost sharing refers to payments made by consumers, such as copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles. The bill also includes provisions for an independent evaluation of the program's impact every two years and an exception where cost sharing may still apply if prohibiting it would jeopardize a plan's tax-exempt status under federal law.