33-24-71. Legislative findings.

The General Assembly finds and declares that:

Whereas, until recently health care insurers covered costs of hospital stays of a patient who had undergone a mastectomy or lymph node dissection until that patient was discharged by a physician. Now some insurers are making mastectomies and lymph node dissections an outpatient procedure and refusing to pay for any hospital inpatient care following the procedure;#

There is sufficient scientific data to question the safety and appropriateness of such treatment of breast cancer patients; and#

The length of postmastectomy or postlymph node dissection inpatient stay should be a clinical decision made by a physician in agreement with the patient based on the unique characteristics of the patient and the surgery involved.#