Every health insurance policy providing hospital or medical expense benefits delivered, issued, executed or renewed in this State, or approved for issuance or renewal in this State by the Commissioner of Insurance on or after the effective date of this amendatory and supplementary act, shall offer coverage for maternity care without regard to marital status to subscribers or other persons covered thereunder for expenses incurred in pregnancy and childbirth. The coverage for the expenses of pregnancy and childbirth shall be provided to the same extent as the hospitalization benefits are provided in the policy for any other covered illness. If a fixed amount is specified in the policy for surgery, the fixed amount for a pregnancy-related surgical procedure shall be commensurate with the fixed amount payable for a surgical procedure of comparable difficulty and severity.

L. 1985, c. 275, s. 2.