King Introduces Cost-Saving Health Bill to Have Insurance Plans Cover Three Primary Care Visits

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) is introducing legislation to ensure Maine and American people have access to affordable primary care and mental and behavioral healthcare services, so they can proactively keep track of their mental and physical well-being. The Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Access Act would require private insurance plans to cover three annual primary care visits and three annual outpatient mental health or outpatient substance use disorder treatment visits, without charging a copayment, coinsurance, or deductible-related fee. This commonsense legislation would cover private insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and employer-sponsored plans.

Under existing law, private group health plans, regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), are not obligated to provide no-cost coverage for primary care, or mental and behavior health services. More than 180 million Americans receive health insurance coverage through employer-sponsored plans regulated by ERISA, who otherwise are not entitled to no or low-cost primary care. Over 46% of Maine people are covered through employer-sponsored plans.

"Affordable and accessible healthcare is essential to keeping Maine people healthy - it is also a prevention measure that saves taxpayer dollars in the long-run," said Senator King. "The cheapest medical procedure is the one that doesn't have to happen because the problem was caught early. This commonsense approach, making routine healthcare visits to primary care physicians, mental health professionals, and substance use counselors more accessible and cheaper for all Americans, is the first step in supporting the longevity and success of our communities, our family and our friends."

Senator King has consistently worked to reduce healthcare costs for Maine people. The Inflation Reduction Act has laid the groundwork for - and in some cases already implemented - long-term changes in federal policy that will keep people healthier and deliver higher quality care at a lower cost to patients. These benefits are delivered while simultaneously reducing the deficit by finally allowing Medicare to negotiating bulk discounts on the price it pays for prescription drugs. This will save taxpayers hundreds-of-billions. His preventative proposal to provide all Medicare recipients with basic bath mats, in order to save the tens of millions of dollars that home falls costs Americans yearly, drew over ten million views in a viral moment last month.

Additionally, Senator King has worked to reduce prescription drug costs. He has previously introduced legislation to prohibit pharmaceutical drug manufacturers from claiming tax deductions for consumer advertising expenses and also introduced bipartisan legislation to require price transparency in prescription drug advertisements. Most recently, he introduced the bipartisan Physician Fee Stabilization Act to protect seniors' access to healthcare.

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