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Mass. hearing presses insurers to cover wigs, scalp and facial prostheses for alopecia patients
Summary
Patients, clinicians and legislators urged the Joint Committee on Financial Services to advance bills (S832/H1223) that would require insurers to cover scalp and facial hair prostheses for people with alopecia areata, citing low per‑policy cost estimates and substantial mental‑health and quality‑of‑life impacts.
Heidi Bratt, a longtime advocate who has lived with alopecia areata for decades, told the Joint Committee on Financial Services that bills S832 and H1223 would require insurers in Massachusetts to pay for medically necessary hair prostheses for people with the autoimmune condition. “I have had alopecia areata for over 40 years,” Bratt said in her testimony, describing repeated attempts to secure coverage and calling denial of access “discriminatory.”
Representative Sally Kearns and Senators Joan Lovely and Bruce Tarr joined patients and clinicians in urging the…
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