Purpose

• Establish a maternal mental health program within health plans to improve care for pregnant and postpartum individuals.

Main Provisions

• Health plans must include a maternal mental health program.
• The program must:
  • Ensure comprehensive and effective care for pregnant and postpartum individuals.
  • Encourage providers to perform maternal mental health screenings during the perinatal period, following recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
  • Reimburse health care professionals for all services under this subdivision (including screenings, diagnosing conditions, and coordinating treatment) at a rate at least equal to the provider’s cost to perform the service.
  • Provide health care professionals with resources and referrals to trained perinatal mental health providers, including behavioral health specialists and support networks, to ensure timely and effective care.
• Prohibition on delays: health plans may not intentionally or unreasonably delay a referral to a qualified behavioral health care professional when the referral is clinically indicated.
  • Clinical indication includes, but is not limited to, a positive result on a mental health test or an enrollee reporting suicidal ideation during the perinatal period.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Amends Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 62A.0411, by adding a new subdivision (3a) to create the maternal mental health program requirement.
• Adds new subdivisions in sections 256B.69 and 256L.12 (text not shown in the excerpt), likely related to the implementation, funding, or administration of the maternal mental health program within health plans.

Note on Scope in Excerpt

• The specific details for the new subdivisions 256B.69 and 256L.12 are not included in the provided text, but they are part of the bill’s changes to law.

Relevant Terms

• maternal mental health program
• perinatal period
• pregnant and postpartum individuals
• health plan
• screenings
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
• reimbursement
• provider cost
• behavioral health care professional
• perinatal mental health providers
• behavioral health specialists
• resources and referrals
• timely and effective care
• clinical indication
• suicidal ideation
• Minnesota Statutes 2024
• section 62A.0411
• subdivision 3a
• 256B.69
• 256L.12