House Bill 80 requires doula services to be covered by Medicaid starting Jan. 1. (Nagakan Aka photo from Pexels)
House Majority Whip Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown is back with another bill on requiring Medicaid to pay for doulas.
Doulas provide physical and emotional support while a woman is giving birth.
House Bill 80, which requires doula services to be covered by Medicaid starting Jan. 1, has 15 other sponsors: 14 Democrats and Republican Sen. Bryant Richardson, R-Laurel.
House Bill 343, sponsored by Minor-Brown last year, required officials to craft a plan for coverage of doula services by Medicaid providers. It passed with no one voting against it.
While there hasn’t been a fiscal note released for HB 80 yet, a Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance report showed it would cost the state $51,325 in service costs and $250,000 in a one-time system cost in 2024.
“Doulas are an important part of how we can address pregnancy-related mortality, and requiring Medicaid to provide this coverage will ensure that every parent who wants to use a doula will have access to one,” Minor-Brown said in a release.
All carriers would be required under the bill to cover doula services for three prenatal visits of up to 90 minutes, three postpartum visits of up to 90 minutes and attendance through labor and birth.
Full-time doulas?
The bill also requires the state Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance to establish a certification process for doulas and to set a reimbursement rate for doula services which, according to the bill, “supports a livable annual income for full-time practicing doulas.”
“A lot of doulas are not full-time doulas. I would love to get to the point where we could have full-time doulas because it’s so needed,” Minor-Brown said. “So hopefully, looking at these reimbursements that Delaware is providing, we can allow for more doulas to take on a larger client load and maybe that would be sustainable for them. And if not, then we have to come back and look at how we may need to change that.”
“When I talked to private insurances, they are ready and prepared to take this on,” Minor-Brown said. “So you will see some legislation coming down the pipe for that because it’s needed. So I’ve already seen a ton of names jump on as sponsors, so I’m hoping that it gains unanimous support. To me it just makes sense.”
The bill has been assigned to the House Health & Human Development Committee, but a hearing date has not yet been set. Minor-Brown hopes to have it brought up at the committee by next week.
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