Proposal Advances Requiring Insurance Coverage For Lyme Disease

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts lawmakers have advanced a proposal that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for doctor-prescribed Lyme Disease treatments.

The measure was tacked on to the nearly $40 billion state budget that was approved last Wednesday by the House of Representatives. It now goes to the Senate.

Rep. David Linsky, a Natick Democrat who filed the amendment, calls the tick-borne illness an epidemic that is spreading across the state at an alarming rate.

Linsky says some Massachusetts residents have run up more than $50,000 in out-of-pocket costs for Lyme Disease treatment.

The measure would require insurers to provide coverage but doesn't specify the type of treatment.

Linsky says a study done by the Center for Health Insurance Analysis found the requirement would add no more than 13 cents per policy.