PRIA Logo™
ArkansasHB12522025 Regular SessionHouseWALLET

TO ESTABLISH THE CERTIFIED COMMUNITY-BASED DOULA CERTIFICATION ACT; AND TO CERTIFY BIRTH AND POSTPARTUM DOULAS IN THIS STATE TO IMPROVE MATERNAL AND INFANT OUTCOMES.

Sponsored By: Missy Irvin (Republican), Lee Johnson (Republican)

Enacted

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

4 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.

Medicaid and health plans pay doulas

Arkansas Medicaid and health benefit plans pay certified community-based doulas for covered services. Services include support during hospital delivery and before and after birth, as defined by Department of Human Services rules. Covered plans include insurers, health maintenance and managed care organizations, and self-insured government or church plans in Arkansas. The law requires Medicaid payment rules by December 31, 2025. It does not set payment amounts or state how much patients pay.

Privacy protections for doula patients

Patient and personal information obtained by certified doulas under this law is exempt from Arkansas public-records requests. It is also confidential and legally protected as required by federal law. Doulas who fail to protect this information face penalties under state and federal law.

Defined service limits for certified doulas

The law limits work under state doula certification to listed nonclinical support services, not medical care. These include childbirth education, help using the health system, advocacy before and after birth, and connections to community resources. Doulas provide continuous emotional and physical support during labor and birth. They provide that support at intervals before and after birth.

State credentials and fees for doulas

Arkansas creates state certification and a public registry for community-based doulas. Applicants must be at least 18, maintain an approved doula credential, and pay a $50 application fee. The credential must come from a state-designated organization or the Doula Alliance of Arkansas. State certification lasts two years. Renewal requires 10 hours of training over those two years, an application, and a fee set by the health department. The department can deny, suspend, revoke, or refuse renewal for fraud, unethical conduct, false names, or violations of certification rules. These actions must follow Arkansas administrative procedure law. The health department and Doula Alliance set standards for certifying organizations and periodically review them. The department can approve or remove organizations and must post notices showing when their credentials qualify for registry entry or stop qualifying. Doulas can submit their credentials directly, without an organization's involvement. The department can issue certification and oversight rules, and it and the Alliance can set rules for tracking training.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsors

  • Missy Irvin

    Republican • Senate

  • Lee Johnson

    Republican • House

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 213 • No: 5

House vote • 4/15/2025

House Vote - Tuesday, April 15, 2025 2:42:30 PM

Yes: 93 • No: 1 • Other: 3

Senate vote • 4/10/2025

Senate Vote - Thursday, April 10, 2025 3:40:24 PM

Yes: 32 • No: 1 • Other: 1

House vote • 3/17/2025

House Vote - Monday, March 17, 2025 2:26:53 PM

Yes: 88 • No: 3 • Other: 3

Actions Timeline

  1. Notification that HB1252 is now Act 965

    4/21/2025House

  2. Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.

    4/16/2025House

  3. TO BE ENROLLED

    4/15/2025House

  4. Senate amendment # 1 read and concurred in.

    4/15/2025House

  5. Returned from Senate as passed, as amended # 1

    4/10/2025House

  6. Returned to the House as passed as amended # 1 .

    4/10/2025Senate

  7. Read the third time and passed.

    4/10/2025Senate

  8. Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass

    4/9/2025Senate

  9. Re-referred to PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE - SENATE

    4/3/2025Senate

  10. REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED

    4/3/2025Senate

  11. Amendment # 1 read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and adopted, ordered engrossed.

    4/3/2025Senate

  12. Withdrawn from Committee and placed on 2nd reading for purpose of amendment # 1

    4/3/2025Senate

  13. Rules suspended.

    4/3/2025Senate

  14. Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE - SENATE

    3/17/2025Senate

  15. Received from the House.

    3/17/2025Senate

  16. Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.

    3/17/2025House

  17. Returned by the Committee Do Pass

    3/13/2025House

  18. REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED

    2/13/2025House

  19. Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed.

    2/13/2025House

  20. Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.

    2/13/2025House

  21. Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE- HOUSE

    1/27/2025House

  22. Filed

    1/27/2025House

Bill Text

  • HB1252 - Introduced

    1/27/2025

    PDF

  • Act Version

    PDF

Related Bills

Back to State Legislation