Requires health insurance policies to cover licensed certified lactation counselor services for childbearing families. It would also prohibit requiring supervision or duplicate payments for services and mandates annual reporting.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would require health insurance companies in Rhode Island to cover services provided by licensed certified lactation counselors for families who are pregnant, giving birth, or breastfeeding. Lactation counselors are trained professionals who help new parents with breastfeeding techniques, challenges, and education. Currently, insurance coverage for these services can be inconsistent, and this bill would make that coverage a guaranteed requirement for health insurance policies in the state.

The bill also includes two important protections for how these services are billed and delivered. First, insurance companies could not require a lactation counselor to work under the supervision of another medical provider (like a doctor) as a condition of coverage — meaning the counselor can provide services independently. Second, insurers could not require duplicate payments, which prevents situations where a patient might be charged multiple times for the same service just because multiple providers were involved.

Finally, the bill requires annual reporting, meaning data about these services would need to be collected and reported on a regular basis. This would help lawmakers and health officials track how the coverage is being used and whether it is working as intended.

This bill primarily affects new and expectant parents — particularly those who are breastfeeding or planning to breastfeed — as well as licensed lactation counselors and health insurance companies operating in Rhode Island. The goal is to make breastfeeding support more accessible and consistently covered under insurance.