Cathy and Jesse Watts look after their 2-year-old while at an appointment with their doula on Aug. 29, 2024, in Topeka. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — The addition of doula services to Kansas’ Medicaid program spurred confusion among legislators and prompted scrutiny of reimbursement rates for Medicaid services.
Doula services, which support a person throughout pregnancy, were added to the state’s Medicaid program effective July 1 . In an Aug. 27 legislative hearing, lawmakers used doula services as a touchstone for concerns about reimbursement rates under KanCare, as Medicaid is known in Kansas.
While new to KanCare, doula services have had roots in Kansas for years.
Abriona Markham, executive director of the two-year-old Topeka Doula Project , is a community-based doula, which is one of four types of doulas. The others are prenatal doulas, labor and delivery doulas and postpartum doulas. Community-based doulas offer connections to resources and social services in addition to the nonclinical support they provide as someone goes through their pregnancy.