An individual or group policy of accident and health insurance that provides maternity coverage and is amended, delivered, issued, or renewed after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1996 shall provide coverage for the following:
A shorter length of hospital inpatient stay for services related to maternity and newborn care may be provided if the attending physician licensed to practice medicine in all of its branches determines, in accordance with the protocols and guidelines developed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or the American Academy of Pediatrics, that the mother and the newborn meet the appropriate guidelines for that length of stay based upon evaluation of the mother and newborn and the coverage and availability of a post-discharge physician office visit or in-home nurse visit to verify the condition of the infant in the first 48 hours after discharge.
215 ILCS 5/356s