Bill > H894

This bill requires insurance carriers, which include various types of health insurers and government health programs, to recognize nurse midwives as participating providers, meaning they are authorized to provide services to insured individuals with the expectation of payment. This recognition must be on a nondiscriminatory basis, ensuring that any limitations on coverage for nurse midwife services are no less restrictive than those for other providers offering the same services. The bill defines a "nurse midwife" as a registered nurse with advanced practice authorization as a certified nurse midwife and clarifies that these providers, when practicing within their scope, will be considered qualified as primary care providers. Furthermore, insurance plans that require a primary care provider designation must allow individuals to choose a participating provider nurse midwife as their primary care provider and to change to one at any time, and carriers must include these nurse midwives on their publicly accessible lists of participating providers. The Commissioner of Insurance and the Group Insurance Commission are tasked with investigating complaints of noncompliance and creating regulations to enforce these provisions.