Ohio House approves Medicaid coverage of doulas in attempt to address racial disparities

A bill that is aiming to combat racial disparities in infant and maternal mortality rates passed the Ohio House during a session Wednesday (Source: “Doula services could soon be covered by Medicaid after racial equity bill passes Ohio House,” Ohio Capital Journal, June 9).

House Bill 142 would provide Medicaid coverage for licensed doula services.

Between 2008 and 2017, Black women died during birth about two and a half times more than white women, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Black women also have twice the amount of birth complications, which ODH data show cannot be attributed to factors such as the pregnant person’s income, education, marital status, tobacco/ alcohol use and insurance coverage.

Doulas “can save lives,” said Dorian Wingard, partner and COO of Restoring Our Own Through Transformation (ROOTT), an organization dedicated to addressing the needs of women of color. “They can prevent the death of mothers, they can prevent the death of children.”

Doula services can also result in lower rates of preterm births, as well as help save money for families, according to Wingard.

Republican state Rep. Tom Brinkman, one of the bill’s sponsors, said he convinced his fellow Republicans to vote for the bill by explaining that it could allow Ohio to save money, since doula services lead to fewer preterm births, which are expensive for the state.

“The hardest thing was to talk to my colleagues and say, ‘look, we are going to expand Medicaid, which we don’t necessarily want to do because we’re trying to restrain costs, but what it’s going to do is result in overall savings because we won’t be paying for [as many complications],” Brinkman said.