POLITICAL ACTION: State Legislation in the Lymelight
Rhode Island was the first state in the nation to pass legislation protecting doctors who treat people with chronic Lyme disease from prosecution by state medical boards solely for that treatment. Rhode Island was also the first – and to date, only – state to reach an agreement with a large insurance provider. The agreement stipulated that “neither Blue Cross nor the independent reviewer, shall contest, reverse or deny coverage based upon a physician’s order of long term antibiotic therapy solely on the ground that such treatment may be characterized as unproven, experimental, or investigational in nature.” The following article was published in the Summer 2002 issue of the Lyme Times, and is available in full in the CALDA archives.
