Bill Text: NY A05435 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Requires the department of health to establish and maintain the New York state community doula directory for doulas on such department's website for the purposes of Medicaid reimbursement and promoting doula services to Medicaid recipients; establishes criteria for admittance into the New York state community doula directory; makes related provisions.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-3)

Status: (Passed) 2023-11-06 - approval memo.16 [A05435 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A05435-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         5435--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 10, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  SOLAGES,  THIELE,  SHIMSKY,  GONZALEZ-ROJAS,
          CUNNINGHAM, HYNDMAN, McDONOUGH, J. A. GIGLIO, WALKER,  RAGA,  NOVAKHOV
          --  read  once  and  referred  to the Committee on Health -- committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to  establishing  the
          New  York  state community doula directory for doulas serving Medicaid
          patients

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Legislative  findings  and  declarations. The legislature
     2  hereby finds and declares that poor maternal and infant health  outcomes
     3  and  disparities  are  a  public health crisis that pose a threat to the
     4  health, welfare, and quality of life of child  bearing  people,  infants
     5  and  their  families. The legislature acknowledges the imbalances of how
     6  doula care is treated in different communities. Between the rising costs
     7  of reproductive care, the absence of a federal doula Medicaid framework,
     8  and the existing barriers to equitable prenatal, intranatal,  and  post-
     9  partum  care  services,  the  legislature hereby finds the importance in
    10  establishing a community doula directory to  increase  access  to  care.
    11  Having  doula services in an accessible and centralized location that is
    12  open to the public without an economic barrier, will help connect birth-
    13  ing persons with the doula care services they need.
    14    § 2. Article 25 of the public health law is amended by  adding  a  new
    15  title 6-A to read as follows:
    16                                 TITLE VI-A
    17                             DOULAS FOR MEDICAID
    18  Section 2594-a. Definitions.
    19          2594-b. New York state community doula directory.
    20          2594-c. Criteria for admittance into the New York state communi-
    21                    ty doula directory.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04573-02-3
        A. 5435--A                          2

     1    §  2594-a.  Definitions.  1.  For  the purposes of this title, "doula"
     2  means a trained person who provides continuous physical, emotional,  and
     3  informational  support to a pregnant person and the family of such preg-
     4  nant person before, during or a reasonable time after childbirth.
     5    2.  A  doula  may  provide services in hospitals, birthing centers, at
     6  home deliveries and other community settings.
     7    § 2594-b. New York state community doula directory. 1. The  department
     8  shall  establish  and maintain a community doula directory for doulas on
     9  the  department's  internet  website  for  the  purposes   of   Medicaid
    10  reimbursement and promoting doula services to Medicaid recipients.
    11    2.  The  directory  shall include the following information concerning
    12  doulas such as:
    13    (a) the name of the doula who provides doula services;
    14    (b) the address  and  location  of  where  the  doula  provides  doula
    15  services;
    16    (c)  the name of each Medicaid provider that employs or contracts with
    17  a doula to provide doula services to eligible Medicaid recipients;
    18    (d) the doula's national provider identification number,  if  applica-
    19  ble; and
    20    (e)  all  documentation  of  criteria  pursuant to section twenty-five
    21  hundred ninety-four-c of this title.
    22    3. The department shall determine the method of registration  and  the
    23  documentation required to verify such criteria has been met.
    24    4.  Each  doula  shall  be responsible for completing the requirements
    25  pursuant to section twenty-five hundred ninety-four-c of this title.
    26    5. The department shall not impose any fee on any  doula  to  register
    27  for admittance into the New York state community doula directory.
    28    6.  The  community  doula directory shall be publicly accessible at no
    29  cost to the doula or birthing person looking to hire a  doula  in  their
    30  community.
    31    §  2594-c.  Criteria  for admittance into the New York state community
    32  doula directory.   1. Each doula seeking  Medicaid  reimbursement  shall
    33  apply to be registered in the New York state community doula directory.
    34    2.  A  doula  shall  submit to the department a certified copy of such
    35  doula's certification from a doula educational organization or by demon-
    36  stration of satisfactory proficiency pursuant to this section, and  his,
    37  her,  or  their  full name, address, phone number, email address, and if
    38  applicable, their national provider identification number.
    39    § 3. This act shall take effect nine months after it shall have become
    40  a law.