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AN ACT relating to maternal health. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 211 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
All health care facilities shall, prior to discharge for maternity services, provide the 5
postpartum patient, and if possible, other family members or support persons, with 6
complete information about perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, including 7
symptoms, methods of treatment, and available resources. 8
Section 2. KRS 211.684 is amended to read as follows: 9
(1) For the purposes of KRS Chapter 211: 10
(a) "Child fatality" means the death of a person under the age of eighteen (18) 11
years; 12
(b) "Local child and maternal fatality response team" and "local team" means a 13
community team composed of representatives of agencies, offices, and 14
institutions that investigate child and maternal deaths, including but not 15
limited to, coroners, social service workers, medical professionals, law 16
enforcement officials, and Commonwealth's and county attorneys;[ and] 17
(c) "Maternal fatality" means the death of a woman within one (1) year of giving 18
birth; and 19
(d) "State child and maternal fatality review team" or "state team" means a 20
statewide team composed of representatives of public health, social services, 21
law enforcement, prosecution, coroners, health-care providers, and other 22
agencies or professions deemed appropriate by the commissioner of the 23
Department for Public Health. 24
(2) The Department for Public Health shall[may] establish a state child and maternal 25
fatality review team.[ The state team may include representatives of public health, 26
social services, law enforcement, prosecution, coroners, health-care providers, and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 56
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other agencies or professions deemed appropriate by the commissioner of the 1
department.] 2
(3) [If a state team is created, ]The duties of the state team shall[may] include but not 3
be limited to the following: 4
(a) Develop and distribute a model protocol for local child and maternal fatality 5
response teams for the investigation of child and maternal fatalities; 6
(b) Facilitate the development of local child and maternal fatality response teams 7
which may include, but is not limited to, providing joint training opportunities 8
and, upon request, providing technical assistance; 9
(c) Review and approve local protocols prepared and submitted by local teams; 10
(d) Receive data and information on child and maternal fatalities and analyze the 11
information to identify trends, patterns, and risk factors; 12
(e) Evaluate the effectiveness of prevention and intervention strategies adopted; 13
and 14
(f) Recommend changes in state programs, legislation, administrative 15
regulations, policies, budgets, and treatment and service standards which may 16
facilitate strategies for prevention and reduce the number of child and 17
maternal fatalities. 18
(4) The department shall prepare an annual report to be submitted no later than 19
November 1 of each year to the Governor, the Interim Joint Committee on Health, 20
Welfare, and Family Services, the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, 21
and to be made available to the citizens of the Commonwealth. The report shall 22
include a statistical analysis, including but not limited to Medicaid, Kentucky 23
Children's Health Insurance Program, or other health benefit coverage,[that 24
include the demographics of] race, ethnicity[income], and geography, of the 25
incidence and causes of child and maternal fatalities in the Commonwealth during 26
the past fiscal year and recommendations for action. The report shall not include 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 56
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any information which would identify specific child and maternal fatality cases. 1
Section 3. KRS 216.2929 is amended to read as follows: 2
(1) (a) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall make available on its 3
website[Web site] information on charges for health-care services at least 4
annually in understandable language with sufficient explanation to allow 5
consumers to draw meaningful comparisons between every hospital and 6
ambulatory facility, differentiated by payor if relevant, and for other provider 7
groups as relevant data becomes available. 8
(b) Any charge information compiled and reported by the cabinet shall include 9
the median charge and other percentiles to describe the typical charges for all 10
of the patients treated by a provider and the total number of patients 11
represented by all charges, and shall be risk-adjusted. 12
(c) The report shall clearly identify the sources of data used in the report and 13
explain limitations of the data and why differences between provider charges 14
may be misleading. Every provider that is specifically identified in any report 15
shall be given thirty (30) days to verify the accuracy of its data prior to public 16
release and shall be afforded the opportunity to submit comments on its data 17
that shall be included on the website[Web site] and as part of any printed 18
report of the data. 19
(d) The cabinet shall only provide linkages to organizations that publicly report 20
comparative-charge data for Kentucky providers using data for all patients 21
treated regardless of payor source, which may be adjusted for outliers, is risk-22
adjusted, and meets the requirements of paragraph (c) of this subsection. 23
(2) (a) The cabinet shall make information available on its website[Web site] at least 24
annually describing quality and outcome measures in understandable language 25
with sufficient explanations to allow consumers to draw meaningful 26
comparisons between every hospital and ambulatory facility in the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 56
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Commonwealth and other provider groups as relevant data becomes available. 1
(b) 1. The cabinet shall utilize only national quality indicators that have been 2
endorsed and adopted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and 3
Quality, the National Quality Forum, or the Centers for Medicare and 4
Medicaid Services; or 5
2. The cabinet shall provide linkages only to the following organizations 6
that publicly report quality and outcome measures on Kentucky 7
providers: 8
a. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; 9
b. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 10
c. The Joint Commission; and 11
d. Other organizations that publicly report relevant outcome data for 12
Kentucky providers. 13
(c) The cabinet shall utilize or refer the general public to only those nationally 14
endorsed quality indicators that are based upon current scientific evidence or 15
relevant national professional consensus and have definitions and calculation 16
methods openly available to the general public at no charge. 17
(3) Any report the cabinet disseminates or refers the public to shall: 18
(a) Not include data for a provider whose caseload of patients is insufficient to 19
make the data a reliable indicator of the provider's performance; 20
(b) Meet the requirements of subsection (1)(c) of this section; 21
(c) Clearly identify the sources of data used in the report and explain the 22
analytical methods used in preparing the data included in the report; and 23
(d) Explain any limitations of the data and how the data should be used by 24
consumers. 25
(4) The cabinet shall report at least biennially, no later than October 1 of each odd-26
numbered year, on the special health needs of the minority population in the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 56
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Commonwealth as compared to the population in the Commonwealth as compared 1
to the population at large. The report shall contain an overview of the health status 2
of minority Kentuckians, shall identify the diseases and conditions experienced at 3
disproportionate mortality and morbidity rates within the minority population, and 4
shall make recommendations to meet the identified health needs of the minority 5
population. 6
(5) Beginning December 1, 2023, and at least annually thereafter, the Cabinet for 7
Health and Family Services shall publish a report on its website for the most 8
recent five (5) years of available data on the number and types of delivery 9
procedures for pregnancy by hospital, including but not limited to the following 10
procedures: 11
(a) Augmentation of labor; 12
(b) Cesarean section; 13
(c) Episiotomy; 14
(d) Induction of labor; 15
(e) Primary cesarean section; 16
(f) Nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex (NTSV) cesarean section; 17
(g) Use of forceps; 18
(h) Use of vacuum; 19
(i) Vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC); and 20
(j) Vaginal delivery. 21
The cabinet may use multiple sources to obtain this data including data derived 22
from birth certificates. 23
(6) The reports[report] required under subsections[subsection] (4) and (5) of this 24
section shall be submitted to the Interim Joint Committees on Appropriations and 25
Revenue and Health, Welfare, and Family Services [and Welfare ]and to the 26
Governor. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 56
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Section 4. In the event the Legislative Research Commission dissolves the 1
Interim Joint Committee on Health, Welfare, and Family Services and establishes other 2
interim joint committee with jurisdiction over health services and families and children, 3
the reviser of statutes shall change the name of the interim joint committee in Sections 2 4
and 3 of this Act to those interim joint committees. 5