Reminder: Hospital Responsibilities for Medicaid Certified Doulas
May 11, 2026
Memorandum
Hospitals are urged to review their policies and procedures with their teams to ensure compliance with Public Act 104–0009, which establishes hospital policies for Medicaid certified doulas.
As a reminder, effective as of Dec. 16, 2025, Public Act 104-0009 requires birthing hospitals and birth centers to have policies and procedures in place to permit a patient enrolled in Medicaid to have an Illinois Medicaid certified and enrolled doula of the patient’s choice to accompany the patient for the purposes of providing support before, during and after childbirth.
In summary, those requirements include:
- An Illinois Medicaid certified and enrolled doula shall not be counted as a support person or against a patient’s guest quota.
- Applicable hospitals must post a summary of their policies and procedures as relates to Medicaid certified doulas on their website, including contact information to facilitate communication between the hospital, doulas, and doula organizations.
- A hospital may request written acknowledgement of a Medicaid certified and enrolled doula’s certification.
In the coming weeks, IHA will send a survey to member hospitals and health systems to gain a more complete understanding of how your organization engages with doulas.
IHA strongly encourages engaging with doulas and doula organizations in your community to support the implementation of the outlined requirements.
For questions, please contact us.