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<regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".06" citation="COMAR 31.11.12.06" title_num="31" subtitle_num="11" chapter_num="12" heading="Limitations and Exclusions.">
  <paragraph num="A.">
    <text>A carrier shall apply the limitations and exclusions specified in §B of this regulation to the covered services specified in Regulation .03 of this chapter.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="B.">
    <text>The following are exclusions and limitations to the covered services:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Services that are not medically necessary;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>Services performed or prescribed under the direction of a person who is not a health care practitioner;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>Services that are beyond the scope of practice of the health care practitioner performing the service;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>Services to the extent they are covered by any government unit, except for veterans in Veterans' Administration or armed forces facilities for services received for which the recipient is liable;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(5)">
      <text>Services for which a covered person is not legally, or as a customary practice, required to pay in the absence of a health benefit plan;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(6)">
      <text>The purchase, examination, or fitting of eyeglasses or contact lenses, except for:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Aphakic patients and soft or rigid gas permeable lenses; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Sclera shells intended for use in the treatment of a disease or injury;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(7)">
      <text>Personal care services and domiciliary care services;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(8)">
      <text>Services rendered by a health care practitioner who is a covered person's spouse, mother, father, daughter, son, brother, or sister;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(9)">
      <text>Experimental services;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(10)">
      <text>Practitioner, hospital, or clinical services related to radial keratotomy, myopic keratomileusis, and surgery which involves corneal tissue for the purpose of altering, modifying, or correcting myopia, hyperopia, or stigmatic error;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(11)">
      <text>Infertility services, including:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Testing;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>In vitro fertilization;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Ovum transplants and gamete intrafallopian tube transfer;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(d)">
        <text>Zygote intrafallopian transfer; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(e)">
        <text>Cryogenic or other preservation techniques used in these or similar procedures.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(12)">
      <text>Services to reverse a voluntary sterilization procedure;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(13)">
      <text>Services for sterilization or reverse sterilization for a dependent minor;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(14)">
      <text>Medical or surgical treatment for obesity, unless otherwise specified in the covered services;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(15)">
      <text>Medical or surgical treatment or regimen for reducing or controlling weight, unless otherwise specified in the covered services;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(16)">
      <text>Services incurred before the effective date of coverage for a covered person;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(17)">
      <text>Services incurred after a covered person's termination of coverage, including any extension of benefits;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(18)">
      <text>Surgery or related services for cosmetic purposes to improve appearance, but not to restore bodily function or correct deformity resulting from disease, trauma, or congenital or developmental anomalies;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(19)">
      <text>Services for injuries or diseases related to a covered person's job to the extent the covered person is required to be covered by a workers' compensation law;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(20)">
      <text>Services rendered from a dental or medical department maintained by or on behalf of an employer, mutual benefit association, labor union, trust, or similar persons or groups;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(21)">
      <text>Personal hygiene and convenience items, including, but not limited to, air conditioners, humidifiers, or physical fitness equipment;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(22)">
      <text>Charges for telephone consultations, failure to keep a scheduled visit, or completion of any form;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(23)">
      <text>Inpatient admissions primarily for diagnostic studies, unless authorized by the carrier;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(24)">
      <text>Except as provided in Regulation .03A(34) of this chapter, the purchase, of examination for, or fitting of:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Hearing aids and supplies; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Tinnitus maskers;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(25)">
      <text>Travel, whether or not recommended by a health care practitioner;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(26)">
      <text>Except for emergency services, services received while the covered person is outside the United States;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(27)">
      <text>Immunizations related to foreign travel;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(28)">
      <text>Unless otherwise specified in covered services, dental work or treatment which includes hospital or professional care in connection with:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>The operation or treatment for the fitting or wearing of dentures;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Orthodontic care or malocclusion;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Operations on or for treatment of or to the teeth or supporting tissues of the teeth, except for:</text>
        <paragraph num="(i)">
          <text>Removal of tumors and cysts; or</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ii)">
          <text>Treatment of injury to natural teeth due to an accident, if the treatment is received within 6 months of the accident; and</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(d)">
        <text>Dental implants;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(29)">
      <text>Accidents occurring while and as a result of chewing;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(30)">
      <text>Routine foot care, including the paring or removing of corns and calluses, or trimming of nails, unless these services are determined to be medically necessary;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(31)">
      <text>Arch support, orthotic devices, in-shoe supports, orthopedic shoes, elastic supports, or exams for their prescription or fitting, unless these services are determined to be medically necessary;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(32)">
      <text>Inpatient admissions primarily for physical therapy, unless authorized by the carrier;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(33)">
      <text>Treatment leading to or in connection with transsexualism, or sex changes or modifications, including but not limited to surgery;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(34)">
      <text>Treatment of sexual dysfunction not related to organic disease;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(35)">
      <text>Services that duplicate benefits provided under federal, State, or local laws, regulations, or programs;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(36)">
      <text>Organ transplants except those included under Regulation .03 of this chapter;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(37)">
      <text>Nonhuman organs and their implantation;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(38)">
      <text>Nonreplacement fees for blood and blood products;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(39)">
      <text>Lifestyle improvements, including nutrition counseling, or physical fitness programs, unless included as a covered service;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(40)">
      <text>Wigs or cranial prosthesis;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(41)">
      <text>Weekend admission charges, except for emergencies and maternity, unless authorized by the carrier;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(42)">
      <text>Outpatient orthomolecular therapy, including nutrients, vitamins, and food supplements;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(43)">
      <text>Temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ) treatment and treatment for craniomandibular pain syndrome (CPS), except for surgical services for TMJ and CPS, if medically necessary and if there is a clearly demonstrable radiographic evidence of joint abnormality due to disease or injury;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(44)">
      <text>Services resulting from accidental bodily injuries arising out of a motor vehicle accident to the extent the services are payable under a medical expense payment provision of an automobile insurance policy;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(45)">
      <text>Services for conditions that State or local laws, regulations, ordinances, or similar provisions require to be provided in a public institution;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(46)">
      <text>Services for, or related to, the removal of an organ from a covered person for purposes of transplantation into another person, unless the:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Transplant recipient is covered under the plan and is undergoing a covered transplant; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Services are not payable by another carrier;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(47)">
      <text>Physical examinations required for obtaining or continuing employment, insurance, or government licensing;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(48)">
      <text>Nonmedical ancillary services such as vocational rehabilitation, employment counseling, or educational therapy;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(49)">
      <text>Private hospital room, unless authorized by the carrier;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(50)">
      <text>Private duty nursing, unless authorized by the carrier;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(51)">
      <text>Treatment for:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Mental health or substance abuse not authorized by the carrier through its managed care system; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>A mental health or substance abuse condition determined by the carrier through its managed care system to be untreatable; and</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(52)">
      <text>Services related to smoking cessation.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="C.">
    <text>A religious organization may request and a carrier shall grant the request for an exclusion from coverage for a service mandated under the Plan if the service is in conflict with the religious organization's bona fide religious beliefs and practices.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="D.">
    <text>A religious organization that obtains an exclusion from coverage for a service mandated under the Plan shall provide its employees reasonable and timely notice of this exclusion.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="E.">
    <text>The carrier's premium rate for the Plan may not be affected by the religious organization's exclusions from coverage for a service mandated under the plan.</text>
  </paragraph>
</regulation>