MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Insurance

By: Representative Holden

AN ACT TO CREATE THE "MOTHERS AND INFANTS PROTECTION ACT OF 1997"; TO REQUIRE THAT CERTAIN INSURANCE POLICIES OR HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR A MINIMUM NUMBER OF HOURS OF INPATIENT CARE FOR A MOTHER AND HER NEWBORN CHILD AND FOR A MINIMUM OF THREE HOME VISITS FOR POSTDELIVERY CARE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Mothers and Infants Protection Act of 1997."

SECTION 2. (1) Any health insurance policy or any health maintenance organization plan utilized in the State of Mississippi that includes prenatal care, delivery of infants, newborn care, or postpartum care shall provide coverage of a minimum of forty-eight (48) hours of inpatient care following a vaginal delivery and a minimum of ninety-six (96) hours of inpatient care following a cesarean section delivery for a mother and her newborn child. Any such policy or plan that provides coverage for postdelivery care to a mother and her newborn baby in the home shall not be required to provide for a minimum of forty-eight (48) hours and ninety-six (96) hours, respectively, of such inpatient care unless such inpatient care is determined to be medically necessary by the attending physician, pediatrician, certified nurse-midwife or other physician attending the mother or the newborn baby.

(2) Postdelivery care shall consist of a minimum of three (3) home visits, in accordance with accepted maternal and neonatal physical assessments, by a registered professional nurse. Such home visits shall be conducted within twenty-four (24) hours, twenty-five (25) to forty-eight (48) hours, and ninety-six (96) to one hundred twenty (120) hours following the discharge of the mother and her newborn child.

(3) Nothing in this act shall permit such policy or plan to deselect, to require additional documentation or submission to additional utilization review, to reduce capitation payment or to otherwise penalize an attending physician or other health care provider who orders care consistent with the provisions of this act. For the purposes of this act, "health care provider" shall include any doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathy, certified nurse-midwife, registered nurse and hospital.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1997.