bill sending providers a yearly postpartum Medicaid reminder

The text as introduced · 795 words

89R13361 AB-D

By: Guerra
H.B. No. 4122

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the provision of certain information about Medicaid

benefits for certain postpartum women.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,

is amended by adding Section 32.0631 to read as follows:

Sec. 32.0631. ANNUAL NOTICE TO CERTAIN PROVIDERS REGARDING

POSTPARTUM MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY. The commission shall annually

provide written notice to each health care provider who regularly

provides health care services to Medicaid recipients who are

pregnant women or newborn children:

(1) informing or reminding the providers that a

postpartum woman is eligible for medical assistance for a 12-month

period beginning on the last day of the woman's pregnancy in

accordance with Section 32.024(l-1); and

(2) encouraging providers to educate Medicaid

recipients who are mothers or the prospective mothers of newborn

children about the 12-month eligibility period described by

Subdivision (1).

SECTION 2. Section 161.501(a), Health and Safety Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(a) A hospital, birthing center, physician, nurse midwife,

or midwife who provides prenatal care to a pregnant woman during

gestation or at delivery of an infant shall:

(1) provide the woman and the father of the infant, if

possible, or another adult caregiver for the infant, with a

resource pamphlet that includes:

(A) a list of the names, addresses, and phone

numbers of professional organizations that provide postpartum

counseling and assistance to parents relating to postpartum

depression and other emotional trauma associated with pregnancy and

parenting;

(B) information regarding the prevention of

shaken baby syndrome including:

(i) techniques for coping with anger caused

by a crying baby;

(ii) different methods for preventing a

person from shaking a newborn, infant, or other young child;

(iii) the dangerous effects of shaking a

newborn, infant, or other young child; and

(iv) the symptoms of shaken baby syndrome

and who to contact, as recommended by the American Academy of

Pediatrics, if a parent suspects or knows that a baby has been

shaken in order to receive prompt medical treatment;

(C) a list of diseases for which a child is

required by state law to be immunized and the appropriate schedule

for the administration of those immunizations;

(D) the appropriate schedule for follow-up

procedures for newborn screening;

(E) information regarding sudden infant death

syndrome, including current recommendations for infant sleeping

conditions to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome;

(F) educational information in both English and

Spanish on:

(i) pertussis disease and the availability

of a vaccine to protect against pertussis, including information on

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that

parents receive Tdap during the postpartum period to protect

newborns from the transmission of pertussis; and

(ii) the incidence of cytomegalovirus,

birth defects caused by congenital cytomegalovirus, and available

resources for the family of an infant born with congenital

cytomegalovirus; and

(G) the danger of heatstroke for a child left

unattended in a motor vehicle;

(2) if the woman is a recipient of medical assistance

under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, provide the woman and the

father of the infant, if possible, or another adult caregiver with a

resource guide that includes information in both English and

Spanish relating to the development, health, and safety of a child

from birth until age five, including information relating to:

(A) selecting and interacting with a primary

health care practitioner and establishing a "medical home" for the

child;

(B) dental care;

(C) effective parenting;

(D) child safety;

(E) the importance of reading to a child;

(F) expected developmental milestones;

(G) health care resources available in the state;

(H) selecting appropriate child care; [ and ]

(I) other resources available in the state; and

(J) the woman's eligibility for medical

assistance for a 12-month period beginning on the last day of the

woman's pregnancy in accordance with Section 32.024(l-1), Human

Resources Code;

(3) document in the woman's record that the woman

received the resource pamphlet described in Subdivision (1) and the

resource guide described in Subdivision (2), if applicable; and

(4) retain the documentation for at least five years

in the hospital's, birthing center's, physician's, nurse midwife's,

or midwife's records.

SECTION 3. (a) Not later than December 1, 2025, the

Department of State Health Services shall include the information

required by Section 161.501(a)(2)(J), Health and Safety Code, as

added by this Act, in the informational materials required by that

section.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 161.501(a)(2)(J), Health and

Safety Code, as added by this Act, a hospital, birthing center,

physician, nurse midwife, or midwife who provides prenatal care to

a pregnant woman during gestation or at delivery of an infant is not

required to comply with that provision until January 1, 2026.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.