A. A health care plan delivered or issued for delivery in this state that provides a prescription drug benefit shall provide, at a minimum, the following coverage:

(1) at least one product or form of contraception in each of the contraceptive method categories identified by the federal food and drug administration;

(2) a sufficient number and assortment of oral contraceptive pills to reflect the variety of oral contraceptives approved by the federal food and drug administration; and

(3) clinical services related to the provision or use of contraception, including consultations, examinations, procedures, ultrasound, anesthesia, patient education, counseling, device insertion and removal, follow-up care and side-effects management.

B. Except as provided in Subsection C of this section, the coverage required pursuant to this section shall not be subject to:

(1) cost sharing for subscribers;

(2) utilization review;

(3) prior authorization or step-therapy requirements; or

(4) any restrictions or delays on the coverage.

C. A health care plan may discourage brand-name pharmacy drugs or items by applying cost sharing to brand-name drugs or items when at least one generic or therapeutic equivalent is covered within the same method category of contraception without cost sharing by the subscriber; provided that when a subscriber's health care provider determines that a particular drug or item is medically necessary, the health care plan shall cover the brand-name pharmacy drug or item without cost sharing. A determination of medical necessity may include considerations such as severity of side effects, differences in permanence or reversibility of contraceptives and ability to adhere to the appropriate use of the drug or item, as determined by the attending provider.

D. A health care plan shall grant a subscriber an expedited hearing to appeal any adverse determination made relating to the provisions of this section. The process for requesting an expedited hearing pursuant to this subsection shall:

(1) be easily accessible, transparent, sufficiently expedient and not unduly burdensome on a subscriber, the subscriber's representative or the subscriber's health care provider;

(2) defer to the determination of the subscriber's health care provider; and

(3) provide for a determination of the claim according to a time frame and in a manner that takes into account the nature of the claim and the medical exigencies involved for a claim involving an urgent health care need.

E. A health care plan shall not require a prescription for any drug, item or service that is available without a prescription.

F. A health care plan shall provide coverage and shall reimburse a health care provider or dispensing entity on a per unit basis for dispensing a six-month supply of contraceptives; provided that the contraceptives are prescribed and self-administered.

G. Nothing in this section shall be construed to:

(1) require a health care provider to prescribe six months of contraceptives at one time; or

(2) permit a health care plan to limit coverage or impose cost sharing for an alternate method of contraception if a subscriber changes contraceptive methods before exhausting a previously dispensed supply.

H. The provisions of this section shall not apply to short-term travel, accident-only, hospital-indemnity-only, limited-benefit or specified-disease health care plans.

I. The provisions of this section apply to health care plans delivered or issued for delivery after January 1, 2020.

J. For the purposes of this section:

(1) "contraceptive method categories identified by the federal food and drug administration":

(a) means tubal ligation; sterilization implant; copper intrauterine device; intrauterine device with progestin; implantable rod; contraceptive shot or injection; combined oral contraceptives; extended or continuous use oral contraceptives; progestin-only oral contraceptives; patch; vaginal ring; diaphragm with spermicide; sponge with spermicide; cervical cap with spermicide; male and female condoms; spermicide alone; vasectomy; ulipristal acetate; levonorgestrel emergency contraception; and any additional contraceptive method categories approved by the federal food and drug administration; and

(b) does not mean a product that has been recalled for safety reasons or withdrawn from the market;

(2) "cost sharing" means a deductible, copayment or coinsurance that a subscriber is required to pay in accordance with the terms of a health care plan; and

(3) "health care provider" means an individual licensed to provide health care in the ordinary course of business.

K. A religious entity purchasing individual or group health care plan coverage may elect to exclude prescription contraceptive drugs or items from the health insurance coverage purchased.

History: Laws 2019, ch. 263, § 9.

Effective dates. — Laws 2019, ch. 263 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective June 14, 2019, 90 days after the adjournment of the legislature.