(a) This section applies to every group or blanket policy or contract of health insurance, or certificate issued thereunder, which is delivered or issued for delivery in this State that requires an insured, participant, policyholder, subscriber or beneficiary to designate a participating primary care provider.

Ask an insurance law question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(b) Any such policy or contract shall permit each female enrolled insured, participant, policyholder, subscriber or beneficiary to designate a participating, in-network, obstetrician-gynecologist as the enrollee’s primary care provider if:

(1) The obstetrician-gynecologist meets the standards established by the insurance plan for primary care providers;

(2) The obstetrician-gynecologist requests that the insurer makes the obstetrician-gynecologist available for designation as a primary care provider;

(3) The obstetrician-gynecologist agrees to accept the payment terms applicable under the plan to primary care providers for services other than obstetrician-gynecological services; and

(4) The obstetrician-gynecologist agrees to abide by all other terms and conditions applicable to primary care physicians under the plan generally.

(c) If a female enrolled insured, participant, policyholder, subscriber or beneficiary has designated a primary care provider who is not an obstetrician-gynecologist, then the policy or contract shall not require as a condition to the coverage of the services of a participating in-network obstetrician-gynecologist that a female enrollee first obtain a referral from another primary care physician, and shall permit the female enrolled insured, participant, policyholder, subscriber or beneficiary to have direct access to the health-care services of an in-network obstetrician-gynecologist participating in the plan, within the benefits provided under that plan. In such cases the obstetrician-gynecologist shall consult with the primary care physician with respect to the care given and any follow-up care, and the plan may require a visit to the primary care physician, if necessary, before the patient may be directed to another specialty provider, or for inpatient hospitalization or outpatient surgical procedures.

(d) For purposes of this section, “health-care services” means the full scope of medically necessary services provided by the participating obstetrician-gynecologist within the benefits provided under that plan.

(e) This section shall not be construed to require an individual obstetrician-gynecologist to accept primary care physician status if the obstetrician-gynecologist does not wish to be designated as a primary care physician, nor to interfere with the credentialing and other selection criteria usually applied by a health benefit plan with respect to other physicians within its network.

(f) Any such policy or contract may not impose a copayment, coinsurance requirement or deductible for directly accessed obstetric and gynecologic services as required in this section, unless such additional cost sharing is imposed for access to health-care practitioners for other types of health-care services.

(g) If a policy or contract limits an insured’s access to a network of participating providers for other health-care services, then it may limit access for obstetric and gynecologic services, but the policy or contract shall include in all its provider networks sufficient numbers of obstetrician-gynecologists to accommodate the direct access needs of their female enrollees.

(h) Each such policy or contract shall provide notice to female enrolled participants, policyholders, subscribers and beneficiaries regarding the coverage required by this chapter. The notice shall be in writing, printed in type not less than 8 points, and prominently positioned in any literature or correspondence, including benefit handbooks and enrollment materials. Policies or contracts shall include an explanation of any voluntary process of preauthorization of services available to female enrollees and obstetrician-gynecologists. The enrollee handbook explanation shall include information regarding any limitation to direct access, including, but not limited to, a closed network of providers, or any limitation on access to an obstetrician-gynecologist based on a female’s choice of primary care provider.

(i) (1) For purposes of this subsection:

a. “Iatrogenic infertility” means an impairment of fertility due to surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or other medical treatment.

b. “Infertility” means a disease or condition that results in impaired function of the reproductive system whereby an individual is unable to procreate or to carry a pregnancy to live birth, including the following:

1. Absent or incompetent uterus.

2. Damaged, blocked, or absent fallopian tubes.

3. Damaged, blocked, or absent male reproductive tract.

4. Damaged, diminished, or absent sperm.

5. Damaged, diminished, or absent oocytes.

6. Damaged, diminished, or absent ovarian function.

7. Endometriosis.

8. Hereditary genetic disease or condition that would be passed to offspring.

9. Adhesions.

10. Uterine fibroids.

11. Sexual dysfunction impeding intercourse.

12. Teratogens or idiopathic causes.

13. Polycystic ovarian syndrome.

14. Inability to become pregnant or cause pregnancy of unknown etiology.

15. Two or more pregnancy losses, including ectopic pregnancies.

16. Uterine congenital anomalies, including those caused by diethylstilbestrol (“DES”).

c. “Standard fertility preservation services” means procedures consistent with established medical practices and professional guidelines published by professional medical organizations, including the American Society for Clinical Oncology and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

(2) All group and blanket health insurance policies, contracts, or certificates that are delivered, issued for delivery, renewed, extended, or modified in this State by any health insurer, health service corporation, or health maintenance organization and that provide for medical or hospital expenses shall include coverage for fertility care services, including in vitro fertilization services for individuals who suffer from a disease or condition that results in the inability to procreate or to carry a pregnancy to live birth and standard fertility preservation services for individuals who must undergo medically necessary treatment that may cause iatrogenic infertility. Such benefits must be provided to covered individuals, including covered spouses and covered nonspouse dependents, to the same extent as other pregnancy-related benefits and include the following:

a. Intrauterine insemination.

b. Assisted hatching.

c. Cryopreservation and thawing of eggs, sperm, and embryos.

d. Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue.

e. Cryopreservation of testicular tissue.

f. Embryo biopsy.

g. Consultation and diagnostic testing.

h. Fresh and frozen embryo transfers.

i. Six completed egg retrievals per lifetime, with unlimited embryo transfers in accordance with the guidelines of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, using single embryo transfer (“SET”) when recommended and medically appropriate.

j. In vitro fertilization (“IVF”), including IVF using donor eggs, sperm, or embryos, and IVF where the embryo is transferred to a gestational carrier or surrogate.

k. Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (“ICSI”).

l. Medications.

m. Ovulation induction.

n. Storage of oocytes, sperm, embryos, and tissue.

o. Surgery, including microsurgical sperm aspiration.

p. Medical and laboratory services that reduce excess embryo creation through egg cryopreservation and thawing in accordance with an individual’s religious or ethical beliefs.

(3) An individual qualifies for coverage under this subsection if all of the following requirements are met:

a. A board-certified or board-eligible obstetrician-gynecologist, subspecialist in reproductive endocrinology, oncologist, urologist, or andrologist verifies that the covered individual is diagnosed with infertility or is at risk of iatrogenic infertility.

b. When the covered individual is diagnosed with infertility, the covered individual has not been able to obtain a successful pregnancy through reasonable effort with less costly infertility treatments covered by the policy, contract, or certificate, except as follows:

1. No more than 3 treatment cycles of ovulation induction or intrauterine inseminations may be required before in vitro fertilization services are covered.

2. If IVF is medically necessary, no cycles of ovulation induction or intrauterine inseminations may be required before in vitro fertilization services are covered.

3. IVF procedure must be performed at a practice that conforms to American Society for Reproductive Medicine and American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines.

c. For IVF services, retrievals are completed before the individual is 45 years old and transfers are completed before the individual is 50 years old.

(4) A policy, contract, or certificate may not impose any exclusions, limitations, or other restrictions on coverage of fertility medications that are different from those imposed on any other prescription medications, nor may it impose deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, benefit maximums, waiting periods, or any other limitations on coverage for required fertility care services, which are different from those imposed upon benefits for services not related to infertility.

(5) A religious employer may request and an entity subject to this subsection shall grant an exclusion from coverage for the coverage required under this subsection in a policy, contract, or certificate if the required coverage conflicts with the religious organization’s bona fide religious beliefs and practices. A religious employer that obtains an exclusion under this subsection shall provide its employees reasonable and timely notice of the exclusion.

(6) Employers who self-insure or who have fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the requirements of this subsection.

(7) A policy, contract, or certificate is not required to cover experimental fertility care services, monetary payments to gestational carriers or surrogates, or the reversal of voluntary sterilization undergone after the covered individual successfully procreated with the covered individual’s partner at the time the reversal is desired.

71 Del. Laws, c. 178, § ?2; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 81 Del. Laws, c. 284, § 2;