Sponsors and advocates celebrate at ceremonial signing of “Momnibus” bill
By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
Sponsors and advocates of a bipartisan bill aimed at improving Kentucky’s dismal maternal mortality rate dubbed the “Momnibus” bill celebrated its passage during the 2024 legislative session at a ceremonial signing of the bill by Secretary of State Michael Adams on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Provisions for the Momnibus bill originated in House Bill 10, sponsored by Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, but was added to Senate Bill 74, sponsored by Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, a bill that created a maternal mortality review board and added state reporting requirements about different types of births. SB 74 passed on the last day of the session and was signed into law by Gov. Andy Beshear on April 18, 2024
“You all understand the great need that we have here in Kentucky for life-changing, life-saving policies and this is certainly one I think that will make a huge difference in the lives of moms and babies,” said Moser.
The Momnibus bill is a multifaceted bill that ensures access to health insurance coverage for pregnant women by adding pregnancy to the list of exceptions for enrollment outside the normal open-enrollment period, and several other things.
It establishes a mental-health hotline called Lifeline for Moms that allows providers access to an immediate mental-health consultation for a mother in need; expands the Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) home-visitation program and lets it be available up to three years after birth; covers lactation consultation and needed equipment to encourage breastfeeding; and will educate mothers on the benefits of safe sleep for infants. These services would also be available via telehealth. It also has a provision to study doula programs and their benefit to those most at risk of poor maternal outcomes.
The new law also aims to strengthen addiction services for those in need. Moser said this initiative is important because substance use disorder is the No. 1 reason why mothers die in the first year following childbirth.
“In fact, we found out that 53% of the moms who died in that first year die as a result of their substance use disorder, and then another 14% are falling under the category of drug involvement somewhere in their death,” she said. “And so this is a really important piece of what we need to be doing in Kentucky.”
Dr. Lyndsey Neese with the Kentucky Chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists praised the passage of the Momnibus bill, calling all of the provisions in it “tools” that will expand access to women’s care.
Neese told Kentucky Health News that she was especially excited to have access to the new mental health hotline that will allow her to talk to a trained, mental health professional 24 hours a day. That, she said, “is just instrumental to providing better care.”
Between 2018-2022, Kentucky’s maternal mortality rate was 35 deaths per 100,000 live births, higher than the national average of 23.3 per 100,000 live births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kentucky Health News is an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.
