17:48-6x - Hospital service corporation to provide coverage for treatment of infertility
17:48-6x Hospital service corporation to provide coverage for treatment of infertility.
1. a. A hospital service corporation contract which provides hospital or medical expense benefits for groups with more than 50 persons, which includes pregnancy-related benefits, shall not be delivered, issued, executed or renewed in this State, or approved for issuance or renewal in this State by the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance on or after the effective date of this act unless the contract provides coverage for persons covered under the contract for medically necessary expenses incurred in the diagnosis and treatment of infertility as provided pursuant to this section. The hospital service corporation contract shall provide coverage which includes, but is not limited to, the following services related to infertility: diagnosis and diagnostic tests; medications; surgery; in vitro fertilization; embryo transfer; artificial insemination; gamete intra fallopian transfer; zygote intra fallopian transfer; intracytoplasmic sperm injection; and four completed egg retrievals per lifetime of the covered person. The hospital service corporation may provide that coverage for in vitro fertilization, gamete intra fallopian transfer and zygote intra fallopian transfer shall be limited to a covered person who: a. has used all reasonable, less expensive and medically appropriate treatments and is still unable to become pregnant or carry a pregnancy; b. has not reached the limit of four completed egg retrievals; and c. is 45 years of age or younger.
For purposes of this section, "infertility" means the disease or condition that results in the abnormal function of the reproductive system such that a person is not able to: impregnate another person; conceive after two years of unprotected intercourse if the female partner is under 35 years of age, or one year of unprotected intercourse if the female partner is 35 years of age or older or one of the partners is considered medically sterile; or carry a pregnancy to live birth.
The benefits shall be provided to the same extent as for other pregnancy-related procedures under the contract, except that the services provided for in this section shall be performed at facilities that conform to standards established by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine or the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The same copayments, deductibles and benefit limits shall apply to the diagnosis and treatment of infertility pursuant to this section as those applied to other medical or surgical benefits under the contract.
b.A religious employer may request, and a hospital service corporation shall grant, an exclusion under the contract for the coverage required by this section for in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer, artificial insemination, zygote intra fallopian transfer and intracytoplasmic sperm injection, if the required coverage is contrary to the religious employer's bona fide religious tenets. The hospital service corporation that issues a contract containing such an exclusion shall provide written notice thereof to each prospective subscriber or subscriber, which shall appear in not less than 10 point type, in the contract, application and sales brochure. For the purposes of this subsection, "religious employer" means an employer that is a church, convention or association of churches or any group or entity that is operated, supervised or controlled by or in connection with a church or a convention or association of churches as defined in 26 U.S.C. s.3121(w)(3)(A), and that qualifies as a tax-exempt organization under 26 U.S.C. s.501(c)(3).
c.This section shall apply to those hospital service corporation contracts in which the hospital service corporation has reserved the right to change the premium.
d.The provisions of this section shall not apply to a hospital service corporation contract which, pursuant to a contract between the hospital service corporation and the Department of Human Services, provides benefits to persons who are eligible for medical assistance under P.L.1968, c.413 (C.30:4D-1 et seq.), the Children's Health Care Coverage Program under P.L.1997, c.272 (C.30:4I-1 et seq.), the FamilyCare Health Coverage Program under P.L.2000, c.71 (C.30:4J-1 et seq.), or any other program administered by the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services in the Department of Human Services.
L.2001,c.236,s.1.