BILL REQ. #:  Z-0643.3 

Read first time 02/11/09.   Referred to Committee on Health Care & Wellness.

     AN ACT Relating to support services provided under the maternity care access program; 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 1993 c 407 s 9 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 family planning services((, 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, and child care, to the extent funds are made available for ((that purpose)) either of those purposes.
     (7) "Family planning services" means planning the number of one's children by use of contraceptive techniques.

Sec. 2   RCW 74.09.800 and 1993 c 407 s 10 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;
     (c) Establishing local plans at the county and regional level, coordinated by the department; and
     (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) 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;
     (8) Provide family planning services including information about the synthetic progestin capsule implant form of contraception, for twelve months immediately following a pregnancy to women who were eligible for medical assistance under the maternity care access program during that pregnancy or who were eligible only for emergency labor and delivery services during that pregnancy; and
     (9) Within available resources, provide family planning services to women who meet the financial eligibility requirements for services under subsections (1) and (2) of this section.