Doula services covered by Medicaid effective Jan. 1

12/15/22

What’s changing?

In 2023, Medicaid will begin reimbursing for doula services provided to individuals covered by or eligible for Medicaid Insurance (i.e., Medicaid Beneficiaries). Doulas eligible for reimbursement must be Medicaid-enrolled and listed on the MDHHS Doula Registry.

View the final policy: MMP 22-47.

Doulas are trained birth workers who provide non-clinical emotional, physical, and informational support to pregnant people and their families before, during, and after birth. Doula support has been proven to be a safe and cost-effective intervention to improve birth outcomes. Doula services have been shown to positively impact the social determinants of health, support birth equity, and decrease existing health and racial disparities.

What providers need to know

Effective Jan.1, Priority Health will be accepting claims for doula services for Medicaid members. Prior authorization isn’t required. Any doula registered through CHAMPS and the MDHHS doula registry will be eligible to enroll in our network, through their prism account. Once enrolled, doula’s will be included in our Find A Doctor directory. Providers will follow the same billing guidelines as laid out in our Provider Manual for these services.

We'll post enrollment instructions to the Provider Manual soon.