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Committee considers bill to create doula oversight, allow Medicaid coverage for doula care
Summary
Senate Bill 319 would establish a doula oversight program within the Department of Labor and Industry and allow Montana Medicaid to cover doula services; sponsors and health advocates emphasized potential maternal‑health and cost‑savings benefits while an opponent raised concerns about licensure and government oversight of home births.
Senator Cora Neumann opened the hearing on Senate Bill 319, which would create an oversight program for doulas in the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) and allow Montana Medicaid to cover doula care without requiring private insurers to follow.
Neumann told the committee that Montana has birth‑related health issues at a rate 35 percent higher than the U.S. average and described the bill as a low‑cost intervention. She summarized a DPHHS estimate that if 6 percent of an anticipated 4,750 births access doula care in fiscal year 2027, approximately 285 Medicaid‑covered births would receive…
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