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Athletic trainers seek insurer reimbursement recognition in bill supporters say will improve access and reduce costs
Summary
Athletic‑training leaders told the committee SB695/H1295 would allow athletic trainers to bill insurers, expanding access to care in schools and clinics and avoiding costly emergency visits, and urged a favorable report.
Robert Calandrio, a Bridgewater State professor and government affairs committee chair for Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts, testified in support of Senate Bill S695 and its House counterpart H1295 to allow insurer reimbursement for athletic‑trainer services.
Calandrio said athletic training is an allied health profession that provides prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries and that athletic trainers are licensed by the Board of Allied Health Professions in Massachusetts but are not currently recognized by insurers for reimbursement in the state.
He told the committee the bill would improve access to care, reduce health‑care costs by preventing unnecessary emergency department visits, and support job creation and program expansion in schools and hospitals. He cited peer states with reimbursement for athletic trainers and an example in which a hospital outreach program that contracted athletic trainers to schools was discontinued for budget reasons when the hospital could not bill for those services.
Why it matters: proponents argued reimbursing athletic trainers would increase preventive coverage for physically active populations, support school safety, and allow a cost‑effective clinical outreach model to continue and expand.
Discussion versus action: testimony was advocacy for S695/H1295 and asked lawmakers for a favorable report; there was no recorded committee action in the hearing transcript.
