A bill to create a special health insurance enrollment period for pregnant women – a response to the state’s high maternal mortality rate – has advanced in Frankfort, passing the Kentucky House Tuesday.
House Health Services chair Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser (R-Taylor Mill) is the sponsor of the legislation in House Bill 10. Referred to as the “momnibus bill” for its multiple or omnibus provisions, HB 10 would expand mental health and voluntary home visitation services for pregnant and postpartum Kentuckians and expand health insurance access.
HB 10 was passed 90-0 in the House Tuesday. It now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
“HB 10 is about saving lives and preserving families,” Moser said. “Entirely too many Kentucky mothers die in the year following childbirth, leaving their children and families behind to pick up the pieces. HB 10 is the first step in addressing the problems that contribute to our Commonwealth’s maternal health crisis and I appreciate the support of my colleagues in the House.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks Kentucky second in maternal mortality in the U.S. Factors cited include substance use, obesity, mental health issues, poverty and access to health care.
The special enrollment period proposed in HB 10 would apply to individual market and state health market health plans, with exceptions for short-term plans and group health plans.
Expanded mental health care options for pregnant women and new mothers in HB 10 would include real-time psychiatric consultation through a Lifeline for Moms program.
More help would be available through the existing state HANDS (Health Access Nurturing Development Services) program, a voluntary program expanded under HB 10 to offer lactation counseling, safe sleep education on conditions like SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), and to educate women on the role of a doula – a trained professional who guides women through pregnancy into the postpartum period.
“This legislation ensures that mothers across the commonwealth have access to care while also addressing the increasingly high rates of substance abuse disorders and lack of mental health support and prenatal care,” Moser said.
The post Bill for better maternal health, insurance clears Kentucky House appeared first on LINK nky.
