BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to family planning services; and amending RCW 74.09.790 and 74.09.800.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 74.09.790 and 1990 c 151 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout RCW 74.09.760 through 74.09.820 and 74.09.510:

(1) "At-risk eligible person" means an eligible person determined by the department to need special assistance in applying for and obtaining maternity care, including pregnant women who are substance abusers, pregnant and parenting adolescents, pregnant minority women, and other eligible persons who need special assistance in gaining access to the maternity care system.

(2) "County authority" means the board of county commissioners, county council, or county executive having the authority to participate in the maternity care access program or its designee. Two or more county authorities may enter into joint agreements to fulfill the requirements of this chapter.

(3) "Department" means the department of social and health services.

(4) "Eligible person" means a woman in need of maternity care or a child, who is eligible for medical assistance pursuant to this chapter or the prenatal care program administered by the department.

(5) "Maternity care services" means inpatient and outpatient medical care, case management, and support services necessary during prenatal, delivery, and postpartum periods.

(6) "Support services" means, at least, public health nursing assessment and follow-up, health and childbirth education, psychological assessment and counseling, outreach services, nutritional assessment and counseling, needed vitamin and nonprescriptive drugs, transportation, and child care. Support services may include alcohol and substance abuse treatment for pregnant women who are addicted or at risk of being addicted to alcohol or drugs to the extent funds are made available for that purpose.

(7) "Family planning services" means planning of the number of one's children by use of birth-control techniques.

Sec. 2. RCW 74.09.800 and 1989 1st ex.s. c 10 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

The department shall, consistent with the state budget act, develop a maternity care access program designed to ensure healthy birth outcomes as follows:

(1) Provide maternity care services to low-income pregnant women and health care services to children in poverty to the maximum extent allowable under the medical assistance program, Title XIX of the federal social security act;

(2) Provide maternity care services to low-income women who are not eligible to receive such services under the medical assistance program, Title XIX of the federal social security act;

(3) By January 1, 1990, have the following procedures in place to improve access to maternity care services and eligibility determinations for pregnant women applying for maternity care services under the medical assistance program, Title XIX of the federal social security act:

(a) Use of a shortened and simplified application form;

(b) Outstationing department staff to make eligibility determinations;

(d) Conducting an interview for the purpose of determining medical assistance eligibility within five working days of the date of an application by a pregnant woman and making an eligibility determination within fifteen working days of the date of application by a pregnant woman;

(4) Establish a maternity care case management system that shall assist at-risk eligible persons with obtaining medical assistance benefits and receiving maternity care services, including transportation and child care services;

(5) Within available resources, establish appropriate reimbursement levels for maternity care providers;

(6) Implement a broad-based public education program that stresses the importance of obtaining maternity care early during pregnancy;

(7) ((Study the desirability and feasibility of implementing the presumptive eligibility provisions set forth in section 9407 of the federal omnibus budget reconciliation act of 1986 and report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 1989; and

~~(8)~~)) Refer persons eligible for maternity care services under the program established by this section to persons, agencies, or organizations with maternity care service practices that primarily emphasize healthy birth outcomes; and

(8) To the extent of available funds:

(a) Family planning services may be provided to women who were receiving medical assistance under the maternity care access program or who were eligible only for emergency labor and delivery services at the time the pregnancy ended.

(b) Coverage for family planning services shall continue through the last day of the sixth month following the month pregnancy ends.