Every group and individual contract providing hospital service benefits delivered, issued, executed or renewed in this State, or approved for issuance or renewal in this State by the Commissioner of Insurance on or after the effective date of this act, shall offer coverage for maternity care without regard to marital status to subscribers or other persons covered thereunder for expenses incurred in pregnancy and childbirth. The maternity benefits shall be provided to the same extent as the hospitalization benefit is provided in the contract for any other covered illness.
N.J.S. § 17:48-6c