Federal Healthcare Acts for Women and Babies
Federal Healthcare Acts for Women and Babies
Healthcare laws were passed to protect women and newborn babies.
Things To Know
- The Newborns’ and Mothers’ Act guarantees minimum hospital stays post-childbirth.
The Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act
This act, passed in 1996 and applying to group insurance plans as of 1998, refers to hospital stays after childbirth. It was passed in response to the fact that too many mothers and their babies were being sent home from the hospital prematurely in order to cut medical costs.
The Act guarantees a hospital stay of at least 48 hours after a vaginal birth and at least 96 hours for a cesarean birth. A mother may leave the hospital earlier than that if both she and her healthcare provider agree that it is okay to do so. The mother’s health insurance plan, however, is prohibited from offering incentives that encourage a shorter stay.
Regarding the Act’s application to health insurance: The type of coverage provided by the insurance plan (insured or self-insured) and state law will determine whether the Act applies to a mother’s or newborn’s coverage.
The Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998
This act refers to insurance coverage of mastectomy, which is removal of one or both breasts. It provides requirements for how your health insurance plan or other provider must treat the procedure and its aftermath.
The act allows for reconstruction of the breast and reconstruction of the other breast, if that is needed for appearance’s sake; prostheses; and treatment of complications (such as lymphedema) that occur during or after the mastectomy.
It should be noted that the act applies only to insurance plans that already provide mastectomy benefits.
