Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new law Monday that advocates hope will close maternal health equity gaps by expanding coverage for services. [Health News Illinois]

The law tasks insurers with covering all pregnancy, postpartum and newborn care provided by perinatal doulas and licensed certified professional midwives. 

Coverage includes home births and home visits.

Home visits by lactation consultants would also be covered, as well as recommended products like breast pumps and feeding aids.

Insurance policies will have to cover up to $8,000 of home visits by a perinatal doula for each pregnancy and postpartum period.

Medicaid will also cover certified professional midwife services.

Pritzker said during a bill signing in Chicago that the law follows through on his promise earlier this spring to address disparities in maternal health, specifically among Black women.

“Black women are three times more likely than white women to die from medical complications during pregnancy and childbirth,” he said, citing a Department of Public Health report released last year. “That is appalling, it's unacceptable and we're not going to let that happen anymore in the state of Illinois.”

Sen. Lakesia Collins, a Democrat from Chicago who sponsored the legislation this spring, said the disparities can no longer be ignored.

“This law was not just about healthcare — it's about justice, equality and the right of every mother and child to have access to the safest and most effective care,” she said.

Stakeholders noted the law is part of a larger effort underway in Illinois to improve maternal health outcomes. 

The current state budget includes $15 million to support home visiting expansion, $4 million to support IDPH’s assessment of the state’s maternal mortality rate and the creation of an action plan to serve affected communities, $5 million to expand the Department of Human Services’ home visitor program, and $1 million to fund a pilot program at DHS to provide diapers.

It also includes capital grant funding to support birth centers trying to open in underserved areas as well as facilities that have seen an influx of patients in the two years since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

“There's more work to do, but this is an enormously important first and big step,” Pritzker said.

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