Progress continues on doula certification and Medicaid coverage. A new doula provider type has been created in the Medicaid system, and later this year doulas will be able to engage with Medicaid managed care organizations to formally become providers in their systems. According to the Ohio Medicaid Stakeholder Meeting on February 20, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) plans to “go live” on doula services by the end of 2024. ODM will provide guidance and training along the way to ensure doulas have the information that they need to become Medicaid providers and know how to bill for services. The Department has determined that doulas can be independent or affiliated with a provider group and can bill as an independent provider or within a professional medical group (physician practice, hospital). The details of this will be available as the rules are developed and posted for comment. The rules are currently being drafted. ODM will also be creating a new doula page on its website to provide resources and updates during this process.
Ohio Department of Medicaid plans to go live on doula services by the end of 2024
Doula familiarity moves closer to doula formalization
Later in the year, ODM will provide an overview of Ohio’s managed care system and plans for doulas as they move closer to becoming certified Medicaid providers. There has been piloting of doula programs within managed care to date, so there is some existing familiarity amongst doulas and plans. ODM will continue to provide updates on this process to stakeholders with the next meeting planned for April. ODM is also currently working to define how many visits with a doula will be covered, in what period and at what rate. Discussion continues.
New provisions and certification rules
The Doula Advisory Board, within the Ohio Board of Nursing, held its third meeting on February 21, 2024. Since the last meeting, House Bill 101 was signed into law and goes into effect on April 29, 2024. This bill dealt with multiple topics (in policy wonk terms, it was a “Christmas tree” bill) and included a few provisions relating to doulas in Ohio. Namely, this changed the title of the doula group from the Doula Advisory Board to the Doula Advisory Group. It also included changes to the membership of the group. The Board of Nursing will be reopening applications in the spring to accommodate these changes. Most consequentially, HB 101 made changes to the language around the determination of doula-certifying organizations. Per the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, the bill makes the following changes: “The act also modifies the definition of “doula certification organization” to mean organizations that are recognized at an international, national, state, or local level, as opposed to organizations considered appropriate by the Board of Nursing.” This last change was the topic of significant discussion at the Doula Advisory Board meeting. The discussion focused on wanting to understand the education and training provided by the different certifying entities and whether the Board of Nursing has a role to play in determining if these entities are providing similar training given the change in the legislative language. Some of this will be explored with the rule development, in terms of the minimum training doulas will be required to have for certification. But it seems like this is still being explored.
Public comments are open until March 14, 2024
Anyone who is interested in getting updates about the doula rule-making process, including providing public comment, can register for updates at rules@nursing.ohio.gov. Individuals can provide public comments on nursing.ohio.gov. The dates for providing initial public comments on the Board of Nursing’s rules are from February 29th through March 14th. The draft rules can be found online. Doula Advisory meetings are open to the public and the information about upcoming meetings can be found on the Ohio Board of Nursing's website.
