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Committee advances bill to cover donor breast milk and fortifiers for qualified infants
Summary
House Bill 15‑77 would allow Medicaid to pay for donated human milk and fortifiers for specified infants (for example low birth weight) subject to OHCA quality standards and federal approvals; the committee passed the bill and the sponsor pledged to provide the committee with details of donor‑milk standards.
The Oklahoma House Public Health Committee approved House Bill 15‑77, which would allow Medicaid to pay for donor human milk and breast‑milk fortifiers for infants who meet qualifying criteria, such as low birth weight.
Sponsor Representative Lawson said the bill includes qualifiers in the text and said breast milk is the ideal nutrition for infants; when a mother’s milk is unavailable the bill would allow “donor milk to be used.” Committee members asked about the cost and the safety standards for donor milk. The sponsor told the committee OHCA previously scored the donor‑milk fortifier at about $135 per day and estimated approximately 56 babies statewide could be eligible, yielding an annual impact near $453,600 based on a 60‑day usage assumption from the OHCA estimate.
Members also asked what testing and quality standards are required to ensure donor milk is free of infectious agents or illicit drugs. Lawson said donor human milk products must “adhere to such quality standards as may be required by the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority Board” and pledged to provide the committee the OHCA standards and the Human Milk Banking Association of North America guidance. Later in the meeting Lawson provided committee members with copies of OHCA rules and HMBA‑NA standards and summarized exclusion/deferral criteria that include positive serology for HIV, hepatitis markers, illicit recreational drug use and other conditions.
The committee approved the bill on a recorded vote, reported as six yeas, zero nays, and the sponsor confirmed she would provide the committee links and documents describing pasteurization, donor screening and temporary or permanent deferrals.
