2025 -- S 0479
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LC001585
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S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
____________
A N A C T
RELATING TO INSURANCE -- ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE POLICIES
Introduced By: Senators Mack, Vargas, Kallman, Murray, Lauria, Acosta, Urso,
Valverde, Quezada, and DiMario
Date Introduced: February 26, 2025
Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 27-18 of the General Laws entitled "Accident and Sickness Insurance 1
Policies" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 2
27-18-95. Certified professional midwife. 3
(a) As used in this section, “certified professional midwife” or “CPM” means a trained 4
professional who has successfully completed an accredited educational program in midwifery, 5
holds a current certification as a certified professional midwife by the North American Registry of 6
Midwives (hereinafter referred to in this section as “NARM”), and is licensed to practice midwifery 7
in accordance with § 23-13-9. 8
(b) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 9
hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 10
or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the services of a 11
certified professional midwife in accordance with each health insurers' respective principles and 12
mechanisms of reimbursement, credentialing, and contracting, if the services are within the 13
certified professional midwife’s area of professional competence as defined by the standard 14
developed and maintained by the Midwives Alliance of North America (hereinafter referred to in 15
this section as “MANA”) in collaboration with the department of health, and are currently 16
reimbursed when rendered by any other healthcare provider. No insurer or hospital or medical 17
service corporation may require supervision, signature, or referral by any other healthcare provider 18
as a condition of reimbursement, except when those requirements are also applicable to other 19
LC001585 - Page 2 of 7
categories of healthcare providers. No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation or patient 1
shall be required to pay for duplicate services actually rendered by both a licensed certified 2
professional midwife and any other healthcare provider. 3
(c) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 4
hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 5
or renewed in this state that is required to cover certified professional midwife services defined in 6
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, shall report utilization and cost information related to 7
licensed certified professional midwife’s services to the office of the health insurance 8
commissioner on or before July 1, 2026 and each July 1 thereafter. The office of the health 9
insurance commissioner shall define the utilization and cost information required to be reported. 10
(d) This section shall not apply to insurance coverage providing benefits for: 11
(1) Hospital confinement indemnity; 12
(2) Disability income; 13
(3) Accident only; 14
(4) Long-term care; 15
(5) Medicare supplement; 16
(6) Limited benefit health; 17
(7) Specified disease indemnity; 18
(8) Sickness or bodily injury or death by accident or both; and 19
(9) Other limited benefit policies. 20
(e) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, unless otherwise specified, 21
the provisions of this chapter shall supersede and shall control over any conflicting or inconsistent 22
laws, including general laws, special laws, or local laws, or any rule or regulation of the state 23
including, but not limited to, §§ 23-13-9, 27-41-2(21), 27-41-36 or any other state rule or 24
regulation. 25
SECTION 2. Chapter 27-19 of the General Laws entitled "Nonprofit Hospital Service 26
Corporations" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 27
27-19-87. Certified professional midwife. 28
(a) As used in this section, “certified professional midwife” or “CPM” means a trained 29
professional who has successfully completed an accredited educational program in midwifery, 30
holds a current certification as a certified professional midwife by the North American Registry of 31
Midwives (hereinafter referred to in this section as “NARM”), and is licensed to practice midwifery 32
in accordance with § 23-13-9. 33
(b) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 34
LC001585 - Page 3 of 7
hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 1
or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the services of a 2
certified professional midwife in accordance with each health insurers' respective principles and 3
mechanisms of reimbursement, credentialing, and contracting, if the services are within the 4
certified professional midwife’s area of professional competence as defined by the standard 5
developed and maintained by the Midwives Alliance of North America (hereinafter referred to in 6
this section as “MANA”) in collaboration with the department of health, and are currently 7
reimbursed when rendered by any other healthcare provider. No insurer or hospital or medical 8
service corporation may require supervision, signature, or referral by any other healthcare provider 9
as a condition of reimbursement, except when those requirements are also applicable to other 10
categories of healthcare providers. No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation or patient 11
shall be required to pay for duplicate services actually rendered by both a licensed certified 12
professional midwife and any other healthcare provider. 13
(c) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 14
hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 15
or renewed in this state that is required to cover certified professional midwife services defined in 16
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, shall report utilization and cost information related to 17
licensed certified professional midwife’s services to the office of the health insurance 18
commissioner on or before July 1, 2026 and each July 1 thereafter. The office of the health 19
insurance commissioner shall define the utilization and cost information required to be reported. 20
(d) This section shall not apply to insurance coverage providing benefits for: 21
(1) Hospital confinement indemnity; 22
(2) Disability income; 23
(3) Accident only; 24
(4) Long-term care; 25
(5) Medicare supplement; 26
(6) Limited benefit health; 27
(7) Specified disease indemnity; 28
(8) Sickness or bodily injury or death by accident or both; and 29
(9) Other limited benefit policies. 30
(e) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, unless otherwise specified, 31
the provisions of this chapter shall supersede and shall control over any conflicting or inconsistent 32
laws, including general laws, special laws, or local laws, or any rule or regulation of the state 33
including, but not limited, to §§ 23-13-9, 27-41-2(21), 27-41-36 or any other state rule or 34
LC001585 - Page 4 of 7
regulation. 1
SECTION 3. Chapter 27-20 of the General Laws entitled "Nonprofit Medical Service 2
Corporations" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 3
27-20-83. Certified professional midwife. 4
(a) As used in this section, “certified professional midwife” or “CPM” means a trained 5
professional who has successfully completed an accredited educational program in midwifery, 6
holds a current certification as a certified professional midwife by the North American Registry of 7
Midwives (hereinafter referred to in this section as “NARM”), and is licensed to practice midwifery 8
in accordance with § 23-13-9. 9
(b) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 10
hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 11
or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the services of a 12
certified professional midwife in accordance with each health insurers' respective principles and 13
mechanisms of reimbursement, credentialing, and contracting, if the services are within the 14
certified professional midwife’s area of professional competence as defined by the standard 15
developed and maintained by the Midwives Alliance of North America (hereinafter referred to in 16
this section as “MANA”) in collaboration with the department of health, and are currently 17
reimbursed when rendered by any other healthcare provider. No insurer or hospital or medical 18
service corporation may require supervision, signature, or referral by any other healthcare provider 19
as a condition of reimbursement, except when those requirements are also applicable to other 20
categories of healthcare providers. No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation or patient 21
shall be required to pay for duplicate services actually rendered by both a licensed certified 22
professional midwife and any other healthcare provider. 23
(c) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 24
hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 25
or renewed in this state that is required to cover certified professional midwife services defined in 26
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, shall report utilization and cost information related to 27
licensed certified professional midwife’s services to the office of the health insurance 28
commissioner on or before July 1, 2026 and each July 1 thereafter. The office of the health 29
insurance commissioner shall define the utilization and cost information required to be reported. 30
(d) This section shall not apply to insurance coverage providing benefits for: 31
(1) Hospital confinement indemnity; 32
(2) Disability income; 33
(3) Accident only; 34
LC001585 - Page 5 of 7
(4) Long-term care; 1
(5) Medicare supplement; 2
(6) Limited benefit health; 3
(7) Specified disease indemnity; 4
(8) Sickness or bodily injury or death by accident or both; and 5
(9) Other limited benefit policies. 6
(e) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, unless otherwise specified, 7
the provisions of this chapter shall supersede and shall control over any conflicting or inconsistent 8
laws, including general laws, special laws, or local laws, or any rule or regulation of the state 9
including, but not limited, to §§ 23-13-9, 27-41-2(21), 27-41-36 or any other state rule or 10
regulation. 11
SECTION 4. Chapter 27-41 of the General Laws entitled "Health Maintenance 12
Organizations" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 13
27-41-100. Certified professional midwife. 14
(a) As used in this section, “certified professional midwife” or “CPM” means a trained 15
professional who has successfully completed an accredited educational program in midwifery, 16
holds a current certification as a certified professional midwife by the North American Registry of 17
Midwives (hereinafter referred to in this section as “NARM”), and is licensed to practice midwifery 18
in accordance with § 23-13-9. 19
(b) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 20
hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 21
or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the services of a 22
certified professional midwife in accordance with each health insurers' respective principles and 23
mechanisms of reimbursement, credentialing, and contracting, if the services are within the 24
certified professional midwife’s area of professional competence as defined by the standard 25
developed and maintained by the Midwives Alliance of North America (hereinafter referred to in 26
this section as “MANA”) in collaboration with the department of health, and are currently 27
reimbursed when rendered by any other healthcare provider. No insurer or hospital or medical 28
service corporation may require supervision, signature, or referral by any other healthcare provider 29
as a condition of reimbursement, except when those requirements are also applicable to other 30
categories of healthcare providers. No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation or patient 31
shall be required to pay for duplicate services actually rendered by both a licensed certified 32
professional midwife and any other healthcare provider. 33
(c) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 34
LC001585 - Page 6 of 7
hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 1
or renewed in this state that is required to cover certified professional midwife services defined in 2
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, shall report utilization and cost information related to 3
licensed certified professional midwife’s services to the office of the health insurance 4
commissioner on or before July 1, 2026 and each July 1 thereafter. The office of the health 5
insurance commissioner shall define the utilization and cost information required to be reported. 6
(d) This section shall not apply to insurance coverage providing benefits for: 7
(1) Hospital confinement indemnity; 8
(2) Disability income; 9
(3) Accident only; 10
(4) Long-term care; 11
(5) Medicare supplement; 12
(6) Limited benefit health; 13
(7) Specified disease indemnity; 14
(8) Sickness or bodily injury or death by accident or both; and 15
(9) Other limited benefit policies. 16
(e) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the provisions of this 17
chapter shall supersede and shall control over any conflicting or inconsistent laws, including 18
general laws, special laws, or local laws, or any rule or regulation of the state including, but not 19
limited, to §§ 23-13-9, 27-41-2(21), 27-41-36 or any other state rule or regulation. 20
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2026. 21
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LC001585
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO INSURANCE -- ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE POLICIES
***
This bill would require health insurance plans to cover services provided by licensed 1
certified professional midwives. Insurers would be required to report utilization and cost data 2
annually and certain limited benefit policies would be exempt. 3
This act would take effect on January 1, 2026. 4
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LC001585
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