LINCOLN- A bill to expand Medicaid reimbursements for prenatal care to include nutrition counseling and targeted case management has advanced to the floor of the Legislature. LB857, introduced by State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would adopt the Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program, similar to ones in Florida and Colorado. Under Dungan’s bill, reimbursement could begin at about six months prior to birth.

The Health and Human Services Committee adopted an amendment intended to tighten up definitions and significantly reduce a sizable fiscal note attached to the bill. LB 857 would apply to at-risk mothers who are Medicaid recipients but not mothers in the Children’s Health Insurance Program. It would also reduce reimbursements to prenatal care, not postpartum care.

“They may seem small, but to the moms who actually take advantage of those programs, they will be huge and they will have a massive impact both on their health and the health of their baby,” Dungan said. The Prenatal Plus Program would be funded through the state’s Medicaid Managed Care Excess Profit Fund, instead of the state General Fund.

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