Senate Passes Momnibus Bills, Birth Center Licensure Advances to House Floor
Several bills in the Michigan Momnibus package passed the Senate on Tuesday with mostly bipartisan support. First introduced in April, the bills seek to address gaps in Black maternal health, targeting areas including maternal mortality, infant mortality and access to care, and focusing on the disparities in Black maternal healthcare by improving equity and accountability in the state’s services.
The bills that passed in the Senate this week are:
SB 818—Creates a commission to investigate racial disparities related to maternal health; passed 23-14
SB 819—Creates new reporting procedures for mistreatment during perinatal period; passed 23-14
SB 820—Sets requirements for hospitals on having partners, spouses and doulas admitted and present with them during their hospital stay as well as providing its policies on informed consent from the patient and receiving a pregnant patient's information from a health professional initiating a hospital transfer; passed 23-14
SB 821—Requires insurers to provide the state information on medical malpractice insurance related to perinatal care services on request; passed 37-0
SB 822 —Allows a patient advocate designation to include a statement on which life-sustaining treatment the patient would or would not desire; 20-17
SB 823—Extends prohibition of sex discrimination in places of public accommodation and public services to prohibit discrimination based on pregnancy or lactating status; passed 24-13
SB 825 —Expands Michigan essential health provider recruitment strategy to include midwives; passed 37-0
HB 5826—Creates a doula scholarship fund; passed 22-15
Three Republicans sided with Democrats--Sen. John Damoose of Harbor Springs, Sen. Mark Huizenga of Walker and Sen. Michael Webber of Rochester Hills--for SBs 818-820.
For SB 823, Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Groveland Township) joined Damoose, Huizenga and Webber in voting with the Democrats. Damoose and Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan) were the lone GOP votes for HB 5826.
On Thursday the House Health Policy Committee voted out HB 5636; another piece of the Momnibus package. The bill would establish licensure for freestanding birth centers. If the bill can win passage in the House when members return to session on Tuesday, it mat still have time to be taken up in the Senate.
If you want to advocate for any legislation in these final days of session, you can find your legislator, their contact information and all legislation at www.michiganlegislature.org.
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