2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 31 - Insurance and Securities › Chapter 31 - Drug Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, and Mental Illness Insurance Coverage › § 31–3103. Drug abuse and alcohol abuse benefits

§ 31–3103. Drug abuse and alcohol abuse benefits.
(a) Covered benefits for services set forth in this section shall be limited to coverage of treatment of clinically significant substance use disorders identified in the most recent edition of the International Classification of Diseases or of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association.
(b)(1) The process whereby a person who is intoxicated by or dependent on drugs or alcohol or both is assisted through the period of time necessary to eliminate the intoxicating agent from the body, while keeping the physiological risk to the patient at a minimum, shall be a covered benefit.
(2) Treatment under this subsection shall be covered pursuant to § 31-3102 for a minimum of 12 days annually.
(c)(1) Additional treatment as a covered benefit under this chapter shall be provided by a hospital, a nonhospital residential facility, an outpatient treatment facility, a physician, a psychologist, an advanced practice registered nurse, or a social worker, and shall include inpatient services, outpatient services, or any combination of these, certified as necessary by a physician, psychologist, advanced practice registered nurse, or social worker.
(2) Treatment under this subsection shall be covered pursuant to § 31-3102 for a minimum of 60 days per year for inpatient or residential care in a hospital or nonhospital residential facility and at a minimum rate of 75% for the first 40 outpatient visits per year and at a minimum rate of 60% for any outpatient visits thereafter for that year.
(d) Treatment regimens which include psychiatric, psychological, and other prescribed interventions shall be a covered benefit.
(e)(1) A group or individual health benefit plan, other than a long-term care policy, disability income policy, or supplemental policy covering a specified disease or other limited benefit unrelated to medical expenses, that is delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the District of Columbia shall not exclude the payment of benefits as set forth in the certificate of coverage for illnesses, injuries, or conditions sustained by an insured person because the insured was intoxicated or under the influence of any narcotic. This subsection shall not preclude a health insurer from excluding coverage for an insured individual for any illness, injury, or condition that is the direct result of the commission of a felony by the insured person.
(2) The Mayor may promulgate rules and regulations as are necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
(Feb. 28, 1987, D.C. Law 6-195, § 4, 34 DCR 491; Mar. 23, 1995, D.C. Law 10-247, § 3, 42 DCR 457; Mar. 8, 2007, D.C. Law 16-242, § 2(c), 54 DCR 601; Mar. 8, 2007, D.C. Law 16-247, § 3, 54 DCR 620.)
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 35-2303.
Section References
This section is referenced in § 31-3102, § 31-3106, and § 31-3110.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 16-242 rewrote subsec. (c)(2) which had read as follows: “(2) Treatment under this subsection shall be covered pursuant to § 31-3102 for a minimum of 28 days per year for inpatient or residential care in a hospital or nonhospital residential facility, and for a minimum of 30 outpatient visits per year.”
D.C. Law 16-247 added subsec. (e).
Editor's Notes
Section 4 of D.C. Law 16-247 provided: “This act shall apply to all individual and group health benefit plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on the first day of the month beginning on or after 90 days after the effective date of this act.”