514C.12 Postdelivery benefits and care.

1. Notwithstanding section 514C.6, a person who provides an individual or group policy of accident or health insurance or individual or group hospital or health care service contract issued pursuant to chapter 509, 509A, 514, or 514A or an individual or group health maintenance organization contract issued and regulated under chapter 514B, which is delivered, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 1996, and which provides maternity benefits, which are not limited to complications of pregnancy, or newborn care benefits, shall not terminate inpatient benefits or require discharge of a mother or the newborn from a hospital following delivery earlier than determined to be medically appropriate by the attending physician after consultation with the mother and in accordance with guidelines adopted by rule by the commissioner. The guidelines adopted by rule shall be consistent with or may adopt by reference the guidelines for perinatal care established by the American academy of pediatrics and the American college of obstetricians and gynecologists which provide that when complications are not present, the postpartum hospital stay ranges from a minimum of forty-eight hours for a vaginal delivery to a minimum of ninety-six hours for a cesarean birth, excluding the day of delivery. The guidelines adopted by rule by the commissioner shall also provide that in the event of a discharge from the hospital prior to the minimum stay established in the guidelines, a postdischarge follow-up visit shall be provided to the mother and newborn by providers competent in postpartum care and newborn assessment if determined medically appropriate as directed by the attending physician, in accordance with the guidelines.

2. When performing utilization review of inpatient hospital services related to maternity and newborn care, including but not limited to length of postdelivery stay and postdischarge follow-up care, any person who provides an individual or group policy of accident or health insurance or individual or group hospital or health care service contract issued pursuant to chapter 509, 509A, 514, or 514A, or an individual or group health maintenance organization contract issued and regulated under chapter 514B, shall use the guidelines adopted by rule by the commissioner, and shall not deselect, require additional documentation, require additional utilization review, terminate services to, reduce payment to, or in any manner provide a disincentive to an attending physician solely on the basis that the attending physician provided or directed the provision of services in compliance with the guidelines adopted by rule.

3. Preauthorization or precertification for a hospital stay or for a postdischarge follow-up visit in accordance with the guidelines adopted by rule by the commissioner shall not be required.

96 Acts, ch 1202, §1