                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

COVERAGE FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS (§ 38.2-3412.1)

A. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Adult&#8221; means any person who is 19 years of age or older.
			&#8220;Alcohol or drug rehabilitation facility&#8221; means a facility in
which a state-approved program for the treatment of alcoholism or drug addiction
is provided. The facility shall be either (i) licensed by the State Board of
Health pursuant to Chapter 5 (&#xA7; 32.1-123 et seq.) of Title 32.1 or by the
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services pursuant to Article 2
(&#xA7; 37.2-403 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 37.2 or (ii) a state agency or
institution.
			&#8220;Child or adolescent&#8221; means any person under the age of 19 years.
			&#8220;Crisis receiving center&#8221; means a community-based facility
licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to
provide short-term assessment, observation, and crisis stabilization services.
			&#8220;Generally accepted standards of mental health or substance use
disorder care&#8221; means evidence-based independent standards of care and
clinical practice that are generally recognized by health care providers
practicing in relevant clinical specialties including child and adolescent
psychiatry, adult psychiatry, psychology, clinical sociology, addiction medicine
and counseling, and behavioral health treatment. Sources reflecting
&#8220;generally accepted standards of mental health or substance use disorder
care&#8221; include peer-reviewed scientific studies and medical literature,
consensus guidelines and recommendations of nonprofit health care provider
professional associations and specialty societies, and nationally recognized
clinical practice guidelines, including patient placement criteria, service
intensity assessment instruments, clinical practice guidelines, guidelines and
recommendations of federal government agencies, and drug labeling approved by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Nothing in this section shall supersede
the standard of care as set forth in &#xA7; 8.01-581.20.
			&#8220;Inpatient treatment&#8221; means mental health or substance abuse
services delivered on a 24-hour per day basis in a hospital, alcohol or drug
rehabilitation facility, an intermediate care facility or an inpatient unit of a
mental health treatment center.
			&#8220;Intermediate care facility&#8221; means a licensed, residential public
or private facility that is not a hospital and that is operated primarily for
the purpose of providing a continuous, structured 24-hour per day,
state-approved program of inpatient substance abuse services.
			&#8220;Medically necessary&#8221; means, with respect to the treatment of a
mental health or substance use disorder, a service or product addressing the
specific needs of a patient for the purpose of screening, preventing,
diagnosing, managing, or treating such disorder, including minimizing the
progression of such disorder, in a manner that is in accordance with generally
accepted standards of mental health or substance use disorder care; clinically
appropriate in terms of type, frequency, extent, site, and duration; and not
defined primarily for the economic benefit of an insurer or purchaser or for the
convenience of the patient, treating physician, or other health care provider.
			&#8220;Medication management visit&#8221; means a visit no more than 20
minutes in length with a licensed physician or other licensed health care
provider with prescriptive authority for the sole purpose of monitoring and
adjusting medications prescribed for mental health or substance abuse treatment.
			&#8220;Mental health services&#8221; or &#8220;mental health benefits&#8221;
means benefits with respect to items or services for mental health conditions as
defined under the terms of the health benefit plan. Any condition defined by the
health benefit plan as being or as not being a mental health condition shall be
defined to be consistent with generally recognized independent standards of
current medical practice.
			&#8220;Mental health treatment center&#8221; means a treatment facility
organized to provide care and treatment for mental illness through multiple
modalities or techniques pursuant to a written plan approved and monitored by a
physician, clinical psychologist, or a psychologist licensed to practice in this
Commonwealth. The facility shall be (i) licensed by the Commonwealth, (ii)
funded or eligible for funding under federal or state law, or (iii) affiliated
with a hospital under a contractual agreement with an established system for
patient referral.
			&#8220;Mobile crisis response services&#8221; means services licensed by the
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to provide for rapid
response to, assessment of, and early intervention for individuals experiencing
an acute mental health crisis that are deployed at the location of the
individual.
			&#8220;Network adequacy&#8221; means access to services by measure of
distance, time, and average length of referral to scheduled visit.
			&#8220;Outpatient treatment&#8221; means mental health or substance abuse
treatment services rendered to a person as an individual or part of a group
while not confined as an inpatient. Such treatment shall not include services
delivered through a partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient program as
defined herein.
			&#8220;Partial hospitalization&#8221; means a licensed or approved day or
evening treatment program that includes the major diagnostic, medical,
psychiatric and psychosocial rehabilitation treatment modalities designed for
patients with mental, emotional, or nervous disorders, and alcohol or other drug
dependence who require coordinated, intensive, comprehensive and
multi-disciplinary treatment. Such a program shall provide treatment over a
period of six or more continuous hours per day to individuals or groups of
individuals who are not admitted as inpatients. Such term shall also include
intensive outpatient programs for the treatment of alcohol or other drug
dependence which provide treatment over a period of three or more continuous
hours per day to individuals or groups of individuals who are not admitted as
inpatients.
			&#8220;Residential crisis stabilization unit&#8221; means a community-based,
short-term residential program licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health
and Developmental Services to provide short-term assessment, observation,
support, and crisis stabilization for individuals who are experiencing an acute
mental health crisis.
			&#8220;Substance abuse services&#8221; or &#8220;substance use disorder
benefits&#8221; means benefits with respect to items or services for substance
use disorders as defined under the terms of the health benefit plan. Any
disorder defined by the health benefit plan as being or as not being a substance
use disorder shall be defined to be consistent with generally recognized
independent standards of current medical practice.
			&#8220;Treatment&#8221; means services including diagnostic evaluation,
medical, psychiatric and psychological care, and psychotherapy for mental,
emotional or nervous disorders or alcohol or other drug dependence rendered by a
hospital, alcohol or drug rehabilitation facility, intermediate care facility,
mental health treatment center, a physician, psychologist, clinical
psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, licensed professional counselor,
licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner, licensed marriage and family
therapist or clinical nurse specialist. Treatment for physiological or
psychological dependence on alcohol or other drugs shall also include the
services of counseling and rehabilitation as well as services rendered by a
state certified alcoholism, drug, or substance abuse counselor or substance
abuse counseling assistant, limited to the scope of practice set forth in &#xA7;
54.1-3507.1 or 54.1-3507.2, respectively, employed by a facility or program
licensed to provide such treatment.

B. Except as provided in subsections C and D, group and individual health
insurance coverage, as defined in &#xA7; 38.2-3431, shall provide coverage for
mental health and substance use disorder benefits for children, adolescents, and
adults. Such benefits shall be in parity with the medical and surgical benefits
contained in the coverage in accordance with the federal Mental Health Parity
and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA), P.L. 110-343, even where those
requirements would not otherwise apply directly, and shall apply the definitions
of &#8220;generally accepted standards of mental health or substance use
disorder care&#8221; and &#8220;medically necessary&#8221; provided in
subsection A for any determination of medical necessity, prior authorization, or
utilization review under such coverage. In conducting utilization review
involving decisions within the scope of generally accepted standards of mental
health or substance use disorder care, no insurer providing such coverage shall
apply criteria that are different from, additional to, conflicting with, or more
restrictive than the criteria set forth in such generally accepted standards.
Coverage required under this subsection shall include mobile crisis response
services and support and stabilization services provided in a residential crisis
stabilization unit or crisis receiving center to the extent that such services
are covered in other settings or modalities, regardless of any difference in
billing codes.

C. Any grandfathered plan as defined in § 38.2-3438 in the small group market
shall either continue to provide benefits in accordance with subsection B or
continue to provide coverage for inpatient and partial hospitalization mental
health and substance abuse services as follows:

   1. Treatment for an adult as an inpatient at a hospital, inpatient unit of a
   mental health treatment center, alcohol or drug rehabilitation facility or
   intermediate care facility for a minimum period of 20 days per policy or
   contract year.

   2. Treatment for a child or adolescent as an inpatient at a hospital,
   inpatient unit of a mental health treatment center, alcohol or drug
   rehabilitation facility or intermediate care facility for a minimum period of
   25 days per policy or contract year.

   3. Up to 10 days of the inpatient benefit set forth in subdivisions 1 and 2 of
   this subsection may be converted when medically necessary at the option of the
   person or the parent, as defined in &#xA7; 16.1-336, of a child or adolescent
   receiving such treatment to a partial hospitalization benefit applying a
   formula which shall be no less favorable than an exchange of 1.5 days of
   partial hospitalization coverage for each inpatient day of coverage. An
   insurance policy or subscription contract described herein that provides
   inpatient benefits in excess of 20 days per policy or contract year for adults
   or 25 days per policy or contract year for a child or adolescent may provide
   for the conversion of such excess days on the terms set forth in this
   subdivision.

   4. The limits of the benefits set forth in this subsection shall not be more
   restrictive than for any other illness, except that the benefits may be
   limited as set out in this subsection.

   5. This subsection shall not apply to any excepted benefits policy as defined
   in &#xA7; 38.2-3431, nor to policies or contracts designed for issuance to
   persons eligible for coverage under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act,
   known as Medicare, or any other similar coverage under state or federal
   governmental plans.

D. Any grandfathered plan as defined in § 38.2-3438 in the small group market
shall also either continue to provide benefits in accordance with subsection B
or continue to provide coverage for outpatient mental health and substance abuse
services as follows:

   1. A minimum of 20 visits for outpatient treatment of an adult, child or
   adolescent shall be provided in each policy or contract year.

   2. The limits of the benefits set forth in this subsection shall be no more
   restrictive than the limits of benefits applicable to physical illness;
   however, the coinsurance factor applicable to any outpatient visit beyond the
   first five of such visits covered in any policy or contract year shall be at
   least 50 percent.

   3. For the purpose of this section, medication management visits shall be
   covered in the same manner as a medication management visit for the treatment
   of physical illness and shall not be counted as an outpatient treatment visit
   in the calculation of the benefit set forth herein.

   4. For the purpose of this subsection, if all covered expenses for a visit for
   outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment apply toward any
   deductible required by a policy or contract, such visit shall not count toward
   the outpatient visit benefit maximum set forth in the policy or contract.

   5. This subsection shall not apply to any excepted benefits policy as defined
   in &#xA7; 38.2-3431, nor to policies or contracts designed for issuance to
   persons eligible for coverage under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act,
   known as Medicare, or any other similar coverage under state or federal
   governmental plans.

E. The requirements of this section shall apply to all insurance policies and
subscription contracts delivered, issued for delivery, reissued, renewed, or
extended, or at any time when any term of the policy or contract is changed or
any premium adjustment made.

F. The provisions of this section shall not apply in any instance in which the
provisions of this section are inconsistent or in conflict with a provision of
Article 6 (&#xA7; 38.2-3438 et seq.) of Chapter 34.

G. The Bureau of Insurance, in consultation with health carriers providing
coverage for mental health and substance use disorder benefits pursuant to this
section, shall develop reporting requirements regarding denied claims,
complaints, appeals, and network adequacy involving such coverage set forth in
this section. By November 1 of each year, the Bureau shall compile the
information for the preceding year into a report that ensures the
confidentiality of individuals whose information has been reported and is
written in nontechnical, readily understandable language. The Bureau shall
include in the report a summary of all comparative analyses prepared by health
carriers pursuant to 42 U.S.C. &#xA7; 300gg-26(a)(8) that the Bureau requested
during the reporting period. This summary shall include the Bureau&#8217;s
explanation of whether the analyses were accepted as compliant, rejected as
noncompliant, or are in process of review. For analyses that were noncompliant,
the report shall include the corrective actions that the Bureau required the
health carrier to take to come into compliance. The Bureau shall make the report
available to the public by, among such other means as the Bureau finds
appropriate, posting the reports on the Bureau&#8217;s website and submit the
report to the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committee on
Commerce and Labor.

HISTORY: 1993, c. 132; 1995, c. 270; 1996, c. 41; 1997, c. 901; 1999, c. 941;
2001, c. 460; 2004, c. 156; 2006, c. 638; 2009, cc. 813, 840; 2010, c. 693;
2013, c. 751; 2015, c. 649; 2020, cc. 726, 847; 2022, c. 544; 2023, cc. 186,
187; 2024, cc. 199, 360; 2025, c. 314.