(a)  Any nonprofit hospital service contract, plan, or insurance policies delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state, except contracts providing supplemental coverage to Medicare or other governmental programs, that includes pregnancy-related benefits, shall provide coverage for medically necessary expenses of diagnosis and treatment of infertility for women between the ages of twenty-five (25) and forty-two (42) years and for standard fertility-preservation services when a medically necessary medical treatment may directly or indirectly cause iatrogenic infertility to a covered person. To the extent that a nonprofit hospital service corporation provides reimbursement for a test or procedure used in the diagnosis or treatment of conditions other than infertility, those tests and procedures shall not be excluded from reimbursement when provided attendant to the diagnosis and treatment of infertility for women between the ages of twenty-five (25) and forty-two (42) years; provided, that a subscriber copayment, not to exceed twenty percent (20%), may be required for those programs and/or procedures the sole purpose of which is the treatment of infertility.

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

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 27-19-23

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6

(b)  For purposes of this section, “infertility” means the condition of an otherwise presumably healthy individual who is unable to conceive or sustain a pregnancy during a period of one year.

(c)  For purposes of this section, “standard fertility-preservation services” means procedures consistent with established medical practices and professional guidelines published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, or other reputable professional medical organizations.

(d)  For purposes of this section, “iatrogenic infertility” means an impairment of fertility by surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or other medical treatment affecting reproductive organs or processes.

(e)  For purposes of this section, “may directly or indirectly cause” means treatment with a likely side effect of infertility as established by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, or other reputable professional organizations.

(f)  The health insurance contract may limit coverage to a lifetime cap of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

History of Section.
P.L. 1989, ch. 478, § 2; P.L. 2002, ch. 292, § 37; P.L. 2006, ch. 246, art. 34, § 2; P.L. 2007, ch. 411, § 2; P.L. 2017, ch. 132, § 2; P.L. 2017, ch. 150, § 2.