Bill Summary for H 552 (2023-2024)

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Summary date: 

Apr 3 2023

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2023-2024 Session
House Bill 552 (Public) Filed Monday, April 3, 2023
AN ACT TO ENACT THE NORTH CAROLINA MOMNIBUS ACT.
Intro. by von Haefen, Hawkins, Cunningham, Alston.

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Bill summary

Identical to S 467, filed 4/3/23.

Includes whereas clauses.

Part I.

Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to establish and administer a Maternal Mortality Prevention Grant Program (grant program) to award grants to eligible entities to establish or expand programs for the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity among black women. Requires applicants to be community-based organizations offering programs and resources aligned with evidence-based practices for improving maternal health outcomes for black women. Requires DHHS, beginning July 1, 2023, to conduct outreach to encourage eligible applicants to apply and provide application assistance. Awards a maximum of five grants with amounts ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. Sets out criteria to be considered when awarding the grants, including establishing categories of applicants that are to be given special consideration. Sets out the types of technical assistance DHHS must provide. Requires DHHS to report to the specified NCGA committee and division by October 1, 2025, and October 1, 2026; sets out issues to be addressed in those reports. Sets the grant program to expire on June 30, 2025.

Appropriates the following from the General Fund to DHHS, Division of Public Health, for 2023-24: (1) $93,513 in recurring funds to establish a Public Health Program Coordinator IV position with responsibilities related to the grant program and (2) $395,500 in recurring funds to be allocated to the grant program, allowing up to 10% of the funds to be used for administrative purposes. Appropriates those same amounts for similar purposes in 2024-25. Authorizes DHHS to hire a Public Health Program Coordinator IV. Effective July 1, 2023.

Part II.

Enacts new GS 130A-33.62, providing as follows. Requires DHHS, in collaboration with (1) community-based organizations led by black women that serve primarily black birthing people and (2) a historically black college or university or other institution that primarily serves minority populations to create or identify an evidence-based implicit bias training program (training program) for health care professionals involved in perinatal care (the provision of care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum and neonatal periods). Sets out 12 minimum components of the training program, including identification of previous or current unconscious biases and misinformation; identification of personal, interpersonal, institutional, structural, and cultural barriers to inclusion; corrective measures to decrease implicit bias at the interpersonal and institutional levels; and information about how to communicate more effectively across identities. Requires all health care professionals to complete the training program, specifying deadlines for completion depending on whether the individual is licensed before or after January 1, 2024. Requires proof of completion for license/registration/accreditation/certification renewal. Defines a health care professional as a licensed physician or other health care provider licensed, registered, accredited, or certified to perform perinatal care and regulated under the authority of a health care professional licensing authority. Encourages DHHS to seek opportunities to make the training program available to all health care professions and to promote its use among four specified types of providers and programs. Requires DHHS to collect specified information related to maternal mortality to inform ongoing improvements to the training program.

Enacts GS 130A-33.63 specifying that a patient getting care at a perinatal care facility (a hospital, clinic, or birthing center providing perinatal care in the state) has six listed rights, including: to be informed of continuing health care requirements following discharge; to actively participate in decisions regarding the patient's medical care and the right to refuse treatment; and to receive care and treatment free from discrimination on the basis of age, race, ethnicity, color, religion, ancestry, disability, medical condition, genetic  information, marital status, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, citizenship, nationality, immigration status, primary language, or language proficiency. Requires perinatal care facilities to provide patients upon admission with a written copy of the rights.

Part III.

Appropriates $500,000 for 2023-24 and 2024-25 from the General Fund to the UNC Board of Governors to recruit, train, and retain a diverse workforce of lactation consultants in the state by supporting the infrastructure and sustainability of lactation consultant training programs at historically Black colleges and universities in the state. Requires the funds to be distributed equally between North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and Johnson C. Smith University to cover costs incurred by each university for administering a lactation training program, including, but not limited to: (1) leasing or other costs for teaching facilities or approved clinical training sites, (2) student aid or scholarships, and  (3) compensation for lactation consultant training program teachers and preceptors. Requires the DHHS Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities (Office) to provide technical assistance on specified topics to those same two universities. Requires the Office to report to the specified NCGA committees by May 1, 2026; sets out the reporting requirements. Effective July 1, 2023.

Part IV.

Unless otherwise provided, effective October 1, 2023.