HEALTH INSURANCE;

INSURANCE - HEALTH - MANDATES;

You asked whether insurance companies must provide coverage for wigs for people that loose their hair because of chemotherapy treatment for cancer.

Connecticut law does not require health insurance policies to provide coverage for wigs for people that loose their hair as a result of being treated with chemotherapy to fight cancer.

According to Karen Smigel, principal examiner in the Insurance Department’s Consumer Affairs Division, some companies provide partial coverage. For example, one company pays $ 200 toward the purchase of a wig under such circumstances. But some provide nothing and the insurance commissioner does not have the authority to mandate that companies provide coverage.

GC: ts