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A new bill has just been re-filed this year to force insurance companies to cover Lyme disease treatment in Massachusetts.
Please contact/call or email your State Representative to ask them to support H.D. 469 An Act Relative to Lyme Disease Treatment Coverage.
We have just begun a two week window where representatives can decide if they want to support a proposed bill. Lets let them know that this is an issue we care about.
Here is a sample letter written by the "MA Lyme Coalition" to send to your State Rep.
Please fill in the name of the representative, and your name and address as well.
January 13, 2015 The Honorable _______ State House Boston, MA 02133
Dear Representative __________,
As your constituent, I strongly urge you to co-sponsor H.D. 469 An Act Relative to Lyme Disease Treatment Coverage that Chairman Linsky has filed that would protect Lyme disease patients’ access to care. H.D. 469 mandates health insurance coverage for Massachusetts residents who are being treated for Lyme disease.
Currently, some insurance providers are denying coverage for Lyme disease treatment to Massachusetts residents. As a result, many Commonwealth residents are unable to afford necessary treatment. Lyme disease is a debilitating and potentially deadly disease, and gaping holes in insurance coverage place people’s lives on the line.
Too often, insurance providers, not doctors, dictate medical care to Massachusetts residents suffering from Lyme disease. This bill will put the power of medical decision-making back into the hands of trained physicians and help the thousands of residents in the Commonwealth suffering from Lyme disease to afford the treatment recommended to them by their physicians.
H.D. 469 builds on the Massachusetts Physician Protection Act enacted in 2011 which allows physicians to treat Lyme disease for longer than a month without censure.
According to the Massachusetts Special Commission to Conduct an Investigation and Study of the Incidence and Impact of Lyme Disease, H.D. 469 is the next necessary and recommended step to help Massachusetts citizens affected by Lyme disease. One of the Commission’s recommendations is for "mandatory Lyme disease insurance coverage to be enacted in Massachusetts."
Importantly, the recent Massachusetts Center for Health and Information Analysis (CHIA) report findings support that An Act Relative to Lyme Disease Treatment Coverage, if passed, would result in little to no ($0.0) impact on the cost of insurance.
I look forward to hearing from your office. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Posts: 154 | From Boston | Registered: May 2014
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