HB 6934, An Act Concerning Medicaid Coverage For Licensed International Board Certified Lactation Consultant

TESTIMONY OF THE CONNECTICUT HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
SUBMITTED TO THE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

Thursday, February 20, 2025

The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) appreciates this opportunity to submit testimony concerning HB 6934, An Act Concerning Medicaid Coverage For Licensed International Board Certified Lactation Consultants. CHA supports this bill with a recommendation to clarify the proposed language to ensure the state is capturing multiple pathways to certifying entities for lactation consultants.

Connecticut hospitals and health systems care for patients, strengthen the state’s economy, and support vulnerable communities across the state. Every day, they work to improve healthcare access, affordability, and health equity. Even as they face ongoing challenges, hospitals provide world-class care to everyone who walks through their doors, regardless of their ability to pay. Hospitals also support an exemplary workforce as the largest collective employer in the state, contribute significantly to the state’s economy, and invest in their communities addressing social drivers of health.

HB 6934 as written could be interpreted to provide a preference for Medicaid covered lactation services provided by licensed lactation consultants certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE). The IBLCE is not the only certifying body for lactation consultants. (Moreover, this is not yet a licensed category in Connecticut, which makes the language confusing.) Because of this, the bill as written may unintentionally devalue other certifying bodies and limit the diversity of lactation consultants who can be included in the bundled payment.

Recognition of other pathways to certification is important because although the certification by the IBLCE is the most widely recognized, there exists a racial and age disparity in those certified by IBLCE. An open survey conducted by the U.S Lactation Consultant Association to identify ways to diversify the profession found that there is a large percentage of IBCLC lactation professionals who identify as white and are primarily older than 40 years and a large percentage of non-IBCLC lactation professionals who identify as non-white and are mostly 40 years or younger¹. Recognizing multiple pathways to certification promotes inclusive practices and accommodates the different learning styles, experiences, and backgrounds of individuals seeking certification.

To ensure that the bill follows basic diversity, equity, and inclusion principles by recognizing other pathways to certification, CHA recommends changing the following in line 11, which currently reads:

Such bundled payment may include payment to physicians and other qualified licensed practitioners for the services of (1) lactation consultants, including licensed lactation consultants certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners, (2) doulas and (3) other non-licensed practitioners.

CHA recommends the language be updated to read:

Such bundled payment may include payment to physicians and other qualified licensed practitioners for the services of (1) lactation consultants, including, but not limited to, licensed lactation consultants certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners, or a lactation consultant who has met the accrediting, certifying or educational requirements of an organization as designated by the Department of Public Health, (2) doulas and (3) other non-licensed practitioners.

CHA supports the goals of the bill and hopes to ensure patient choice of providers covered in the bundled payment is not limited by the specificity of IBLCE as the sole certifying entity recognized by the state.

Thank you for your consideration of our position. For additional information, contact CHA Government Relations at (203) 294-7301.

¹ Who Is Providing Lactation Care? The USLCA Demographic Survey Preliminary Findings