Bill > HB138

This bill: 1. Expands the legislative intent and findings related to reducing child and maternal fatalities, emphasizing the importance of dignity and respect during pregnancy and childbirth, addressing the high maternal mortality rate in the United States and Kentucky, and recognizing the role of implicit bias as a key cause of health disparities for communities of color. 2. Requires the establishment of state and local child and maternal fatality review teams to investigate deaths, identify trends and risk factors, and recommend prevention strategies. 3. Mandates that health facilities providing perinatal care inform patients of their rights, including the right to be free from discrimination based on various factors. 4. Requires health facilities to implement evidence-based implicit bias programs for all healthcare providers involved in perinatal care, with specific elements to address unconscious biases, communication strategies, and the impact of social determinants on reproductive health. 5. Directs the Department for Public Health to track and publish data on maternal death and severe morbidity by region, race, and ethnicity. 6. Provides for Medicaid reimbursement of qualified doula services and requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to study the impact of this provision on maternal and infant mortality rates, as well as the economic impact on the Medicaid budget.

Health and Social Services

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/20RS/hb138.html