TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Jul 7, 2023

A new law, which took effect July 1 and was sponsored by Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, seeks to expand access to doula services for pregnant, low-income Tennesseans. The Daily Memphian reports that the bill creates a doula services advisory committee within TennCare. The five-member committee will advise the Tennessee Department of Health on standards for the profession and recommend reimbursement rates for TennCare coverage of doula services. It will also include the state’s commissioner of health or a designee with experience in maternal health or Medicaid policy, the director of TennCare or a designee, and three doulas, two of whom must be community-based and have experience serving Medicaid recipients in areas of the state with high maternal- and infant-mortality rates. “This is an important policy goal because Tennessee women are dying due to preventable, pregnancy-related complications at a rate 10 times higher than women in other wealthy nations,” Lamar said.