1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, a carrier that offers or issues a health benefit plan shall include in the plan coverage for:

(a) Up to a 12-month supply, per prescription, of any type of drug for contraception or its therapeutic equivalent which is:

(1) Lawfully prescribed or ordered;

(2) Approved by the Food and Drug Administration;

(3) Listed in subsection 10; and

(4) Dispensed in accordance with NRS 639.28075;

(b) Any type of device for contraception which is:

(1) Lawfully prescribed or ordered;

(2) Approved by the Food and Drug Administration; and

(3) Listed in subsection 10;

(c) Insertion of a device for contraception or removal of such a device if the device was inserted while the insured was covered by the same health benefit plan;

(d) Education and counseling relating to the initiation of the use of contraception and any necessary follow-up after initiating such use;

(e) Management of side effects relating to contraception; and

(f) Voluntary sterilization for women.

2. A carrier must ensure that the benefits required by subsection 1 are made available to an insured through a provider of health care who participates in the network plan of the carrier.

3. If a covered therapeutic equivalent listed in subsection 1 is not available or a provider of health care deems a covered therapeutic equivalent to be medically inappropriate, an alternate therapeutic equivalent prescribed by a provider of health care must be covered by the carrier.

4. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 8, 9 and 11, a carrier that offers or issues a health benefit plan shall not:

(a) Require an insured to pay a higher deductible, any copayment or coinsurance or require a longer waiting period or other condition to obtain any benefit included in the health benefit plan pursuant to subsection 1;

(b) Refuse to issue a health benefit plan or cancel a health benefit plan solely because the person applying for or covered by the plan uses or may use any such benefit;

(c) Offer or pay any type of material inducement or financial incentive to an insured to discourage the insured from obtaining any such benefit;

(d) Penalize a provider of health care who provides any such benefit to an insured, including, without limitation, reducing the reimbursement to the provider of health care;

(e) Offer or pay any type of material inducement, bonus or other financial incentive to a provider of health care to deny, reduce, withhold, limit or delay access to any such benefit to an insured; or

(f) Impose any other restrictions or delays on the access of an insured to any such benefit.

5. Coverage pursuant to this section for the covered dependent of an insured must be the same as for the insured.

6. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, a health benefit plan subject to the provisions of this chapter that is delivered, issued for delivery or renewed on or after January 1, 2018, has the legal effect of including the coverage required by subsection 1, and any provision of the plan or the renewal which is in conflict with this section is void.

7. A carrier that offers or issues a health benefit plan and which is affiliated with a religious organization is not required to provide the coverage required by subsection 1 if the carrier objects on religious grounds. Such a carrier shall, before the issuance of a health benefit plan and before the renewal of such a plan, provide to the prospective insured written notice of the coverage that the carrier refuses to provide pursuant to this subsection.

8. A carrier may require an insured to pay a higher deductible, copayment or coinsurance for a drug for contraception if the insured refuses to accept a therapeutic equivalent of the drug.

9. For each of the 18 methods of contraception listed in subsection 10 that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a health benefit plan must include at least one drug or device for contraception within each method for which no deductible, copayment or coinsurance may be charged to the insured, but the carrier may charge a deductible, copayment or coinsurance for any other drug or device that provides the same method of contraception.

10. The following 18 methods of contraception must be covered pursuant to this section:

(a) Voluntary sterilization for women;

(b) Surgical sterilization implants for women;

(c) Implantable rods;

(d) Copper-based intrauterine devices;

(e) Progesterone-based intrauterine devices;

(f) Injections;

(g) Combined estrogen- and progestin-based drugs;

(h) Progestin-based drugs;

(i) Extended- or continuous-regimen drugs;

(j) Estrogen- and progestin-based patches;

(k) Vaginal contraceptive rings;

(l) Diaphragms with spermicide;

(m) Sponges with spermicide;

(n) Cervical caps with spermicide;

(o) Female condoms;

(p) Spermicide;

(q) Combined estrogen- and progestin-based drugs for emergency contraception or progestin-based drugs for emergency contraception; and

(r) Ulipristal acetate for emergency contraception.

11. Except as otherwise provided in this section and federal law, a carrier may use medical management techniques, including, without limitation, any available clinical evidence, to determine the frequency of or treatment relating to any benefit required by this section or the type of provider of health care to use for such treatment.

12. A carrier shall not use medical management techniques to require an insured to use a method of contraception other than the method prescribed or ordered by a provider of health care.

13. A carrier must provide an accessible, transparent and expedited process which is not unduly burdensome by which an insured, or the authorized representative of the insured, may request an exception relating to any medical management technique used by the carrier to obtain any benefit required by this section without a higher deductible, copayment or coinsurance.

14. As used in this section:

(a) “Medical management technique” means a practice which is used to control the cost or utilization of health care services or prescription drug use. The term includes, without limitation, the use of step therapy, prior authorization or categorizing drugs and devices based on cost, type or method of administration.

(b) “Network plan” means a health benefit plan offered by a carrier under which the financing and delivery of medical care, including items and services paid for as medical care, are provided, in whole or in part, through a defined set of providers under contract with the carrier. The term does not include an arrangement for the financing of premiums.

(c) “Provider of health care” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 629.031.

(d) “Therapeutic equivalent” means a drug which:

(1) Contains an identical amount of the same active ingredients in the same dosage and method of administration as another drug;

(2) Is expected to have the same clinical effect when administered to a patient pursuant to a prescription or order as another drug; and

(3) Meets any other criteria required by the Food and Drug Administration for classification as a therapeutic equivalent.

(Added to NRS by 2017, 1822, 3941)