WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor Ch. 470

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

Article 48A - Insurance Code

354DD.

Each group or individual medical or major medical contract
or certificate issued or delivered within the State, OR ISSUED
OUTSIDE THE STATE COVERING PERSONS WHO RESIDE OR AND WORK WITHIN
THE STATE, by a nonprofit health service plan and which provides
pregnancy-related benefits, may not exclude benefits for all
outpatient expenses arising from in vitro fertilization
procedures performed on the subscriber or the subscriber's
dependent spouse, provided that:

(1)  Benefits under this section shall be provided to
the same extent as the benefits provided for other
pregnancy-related procedures;

(2)  The patient is a subscriber or covered dependent
of the subscriber;

(3)  The patient's oocytes are fertilized with the
patient's spouse's sperm;

(4)  (i) The patient and the patient's spouse have a
history of infertility of at least 5 years' duration; or

(ii) The infertility is associated with 1 or
more of the following medical conditions:

1.  Endometriosis;

2.  Exposure in utero to
diethylstilbestrol, commonly known as DES; or

3.  Blockage of, or surgical removal of, 1
or both fallopian tubes (lateral or bilateral salpingectomy);

(5)  The patient has been unable to attain a
successful pregnancy through any less costly applicable
infertility treatments for which coverage is available under the
contract or certification; and

(6)  The in vitro fertilization procedures are
performed at medical facilities that conform to the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines for in
vitro fertilization clinics or to the American Fertility Society
minimal standards for programs of in vitro fertilization.

470W.

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