We've been living with the threat of Lyme Disease in NJ for around two decades. Almost everyone here knows of someone who contracted it to the point of a chronic or disabling condition.

Early on, doctors waited for the sign of a bullseye to appear before giving the antibiotic.

Then, it turned out that the bullseye only shows up or is spotted about one half of the time. Meanwhile, the disease is damaging the body and stopping its progression (you don't get cured from lyme disease damage-you just stop it from getting worse) becomes even more difficult. The antibiotic only costs a couple of dollars, and now, up in NJ, the doctors will prescribe it as a default... better to be safe then spending thousands more battling it later on one chronic damage sets in.

If the doctors in the South don't prescribe the antibiotics right away, they are showing limited experience dealing with it.

With Lyme Disease - it's best to remedy the disease in its infancy.

I don't have much experience with this.

Yep, some companies balk at the low amount of the treatment, and granted you don't want to take antibiotics all of the time to prevent them from working, but when you see people in their 30's looking like a senior with advanced rheumatoid arthritis, or teens with joint problems, you can just imagine the pain to the injured and impact to society that causes.

I hope it passes.

By Tiffany Brooks
Sen. Terry Gipson is urging his fellow legislators to help protect patients suffering from long-term Lyme disease.

The Tick Bite Act (S.3478/A.5174-a), sponsored by Gipson and Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, would require health insurers in New York to provide coverage for long-term medical care for Lyme disease and other tick-borne pathogens.


http://www.legislativegazette.com/Articles-Top-Stories-c-2014-04-28-87716.113122-Gipson-bills-would-require-insurers-to-pay-for-longterm-Lyme-disease-treatment.html