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Michigan Medicaid health plans will cover doula services beginning in 2023

A white newborn baby
Pixabay
Michigan Medicaid will begin covering doula services on January 1, 2023.

Michigan Medicaid will cover doula services beginning Jan. 1, 2023. Doulas provide critical support to a pregnant person, but these services can cost hundreds of dollars. A doula is trained to provide physical, emotional and educational support to a pregnant person before, during, and after labor.

The cost of a doula can range anywhere from $700 to $1200 dollars per pregnancy. But these kinds of services haven’t been covered by Medicaid.

Annissa Eddie, a doctoral student in child development at Michigan State University, was part of the group responsible for helping craft the policy at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

"It was more of an exclusive service, typically a self-paid service. And oftentimes, people with lower incomes did not have access to that," she said. "And because of systemic issues many of the people that were left out were birthing people of color."

According to data from 2018-2020 Medicaid coverage at the time of a baby's birth was highest among Black women (66.1%) followed by Latinos (59.6%). White birthing people accounted for 32% of those covered by Medicaid.

Farah Hanley, the Chief Deputy Director for Health at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Service, says research shows doulas can be critical in improving birth outcomes.

"Doula services have been shown to positively impact social determinants of health, support birth equity, for example, and even decrease existing health and racial disparities,"

Black babies in the state are three times more likely to die within the first year of life compared to white babies and Black women are nearly two times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, according to 2019 data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Additionally, Black and Latino babies are more likely than white babies to be born early — which can often lead to extended stays in neonatal intensive care units.

The new policy will cover different types of doula services including community-based doulas, prenatal doulas, labor and birth doulas and postpartum doulas. Those receiving these services will need a referral from a provider.

Doula services may include a maximum of six total visits during the prenatal and postpartum periods and one visit for labor and delivery.

Doulas interested in providing services to Medicaid beneficiaries will need to complete certification training approved by the health department and enroll as a Medicaid provider. For more information on the certification process visit the state health department's website.

As WKAR's Bilingual Latinx Stories Reporter, Michelle reports in both English and Spanish on stories affecting Michigan's Latinx community.
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