(a) Enrollees have the right to available and accessible emergency services, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The health plan company shall inform its enrollees how to obtain emergency care and, if prior authorization for emergency services is required, shall make available a toll-free number, which is answered 24 hours a day, to answer questions about emergency services and to receive reports and provide authorizations, where appropriate, for treatment of emergency medical conditions. Emergency services shall be covered whether provided by participating or nonparticipating providers and whether provided within or outside the health plan company's service area. In reviewing a denial for coverage of emergency services, the health plan company shall take the following factors into consideration:

1. (1) a reasonable layperson's belief that the circumstances required immediate medical care that could not wait until the next working day or next available clinic appointment;
2. (2) the time of day and day of the week the care was provided;
3. (3) the presenting symptoms, including, but not limited to, severe pain, to ensure that the decision to reimburse the emergency care is not made solely on the basis of the actual diagnosis;
4. (4) the enrollee's efforts to follow the health plan company's established procedures for obtaining emergency care; and
5. (5) any circumstances that precluded use of the health plan company's established procedures for obtaining emergency care.