The Massachusetts legislature has overwhelmingly overridden a veto by Governor Charles D. Baker of a bill mandating insurance coverage for long-term antibiotic therapy for the treatment of Lyme Disease.

Under the new law, a health insurance policy now must provide coverage for “long-term antibiotic therapy for a patient with Lyme disease when determined to be medically necessary and ordered by a licensed physician after making a thorough evaluation of the patient's symptoms, diagnostic test results or response to treatment.”

Moreover, the law provides that an “experimental drug” shall be covered as a long-term antibiotic therapy if it is approved for an indication by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) – and that a drug, including an experimental drug, “shall be covered for an off-label use in the treatment of Lyme disease” if the drug has been approved by the FDA.