Section 1753.28 | Emergency services coverage.
(A) As used in this section:
(1) "Emergency medical condition" means a medical condition that manifests itself by such acute symptoms of sufficient severity, including severe pain, that a prudent layperson with an average knowledge of health and medicine could reasonably expect the absence of immediate medical attention to result in any of the following:
(a) Placing the health of the individual or, with respect to a pregnant woman, the health of the woman or her unborn child, in serious jeopardy;
(b) Serious impairment to bodily functions;
(c) Serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.
(2) "Emergency services" means the following:
(a) A medical screening examination, as required by federal law, that is within the capability of the emergency department of a hospital, including ancillary services routinely available to the emergency department, to evaluate an emergency medical condition;
(b) Such further medical examination and treatment that are required by federal law to stabilize an emergency medical condition and are within the capabilities of the staff and facilities available at the hospital, including any trauma and burn center of the hospital.
(3)(a) "Stabilize" means the provision of such medical treatment as may be necessary to assure, within reasonable medical probability, that no material deterioration of an individual's medical condition is likely to result from or occur during a transfer, if the medical condition could result in any of the following:
(i) Placing the health of the individual or, with respect to a pregnant woman, the health of the woman or her unborn child, in serious jeopardy;
(ii) Serious impairment to bodily functions;
(iii) Serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.
(b) In the case of a woman having contractions, "stabilize" means such medical treatment as may be necessary to deliver, including the placenta.
(4) "Transfer" has the same meaning as in section 1867 of the "Social Security Act," 49 Stat. 620 (1935), 42 U.S.C.A. 1395dd, as amended.
(B) A health insuring corporation policy, contract, or agreement providing coverage of basic health care services shall cover emergency services for enrollees with emergency medical conditions without regard to the day or time the emergency services are rendered or to whether the enrollee, the hospital's emergency department where the services are rendered, or an emergency physician treating the enrollee, obtained prior authorization for the emergency services.
(C) A health insuring corporation policy, contract, or agreement providing coverage of basic health care services shall cover both of the following:
(1) Emergency services provided to an enrollee at a participating hospital's emergency department if the enrollee presents self with an emergency medical condition;
(2) Emergency services provided to an enrollee at a nonparticipating hospital's emergency department if the enrollee presents self with an emergency medical condition and one of the following circumstances applies:
(a) Due to circumstances beyond the enrollee's control, the enrollee was unable to utilize a participating hospital's emergency department without serious threat to life or health.
(b) A prudent layperson with an average knowledge of health and medicine would have reasonably believed that, under the circumstances, the time required to travel to a participating hospital's emergency department could result in one or more of the adverse health consequences described in division (A)(1) of this section.
(c) A person authorized by the health insuring corporation refers the enrollee to an emergency department and does not specify a participating hospital's emergency department.
(d) An ambulance takes the enrollee to a nonparticipating hospital other than at the direction of the enrollee.
(e) The enrollee is unconscious.
(f) A natural disaster precluded the use of a participating emergency department.
(g) The status of a hospital changed from participating to nonparticipating with respect to emergency services during a contract year and no good faith effort was made by the health insuring corporation to inform enrollees of this change.
(D) A health insuring corporation that provides coverage for emergency services shall inform enrollees of all of the following:
(1) The scope of coverage for emergency services;
(2) The appropriate use of emergency services, including the use of the 9-1-1 system and any other telephone access systems utilized to access prehospital emergency services;
(3) Any cost sharing provisions for emergency services;
(4) The procedures for obtaining emergency services and other medical services, so that enrollees are familiar with the location of the emergency departments of participating hospitals and with the location and availability of other participating facilities or settings at which they could receive medical services.
Available Versions of this Section
- October 1, 1998 – House Bill 361 - 122nd General Assembly [ View October 1, 1998 Version ]