Louisiana bill seeks ‘fairness’ in pregnancy costs

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As the primary payments trickled in Thursday for Louisiana’s upcoming legislative session, amongst them is proposed laws that might permit moms to “get well” 50% of out-of-pocket pregnancy-related medical bills from the daddy of their little one.

Home Invoice 5, which Republican state Rep. Larry Frieman pre-filed Thursday, is of specific curiosity in Louisiana the place there’s a near-total abortion ban. The one exceptions to the ban are if there’s substantial threat of demise or impairment to the affected person in the event that they proceed with the being pregnant and within the case of “medically futile” pregnancies — when the fetus has a deadly abnormality. There are not any exceptions for rape or incest.

Below the invoice, the mom must sue the daddy earlier than the kid turns 2 and provided that the paternity of the kid has been proved by “clear and convincing proof.”

“The invoice is basically about elementary equity,” Frieman, a protection legal professional, instructed the Related Press. “It’s not truthful to have girls should bear all of the out-of-pocket medical bills for being pregnant. And in Louisiana, there isn’t a mechanism within the legislation that enables her to get well.”

Well being prices related to being pregnant, childbirth, and post-partum care common a complete of $18,865, in line with a 2022 research by the Kaiser Household Basis. Nonetheless, the common out-of-pocket funds complete $2,854 for ladies enrolled in giant group plans. These prices don’t embody the quantity spent on heath insurance coverage premiums or further payments from out-of-network suppliers.

One other Louisiana GOP politician proposed the same invoice on a nationwide scale final 12 months.

U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson launched the Unborn Youngster Help Act, which might make it attainable for pregnant moms to gather little one assist beginning in the intervening time of conception. The invoice by no means made it to the U.S. Home ground for debate, however Johnson plans on reintroducing it this session.

In 2021, Utah grew to become the primary state to mandate prenatal little one assist. On the time just a few different states, together with Wisconsin and New York, had provisions that would lead to fathers being financially liable for pre-birth bills.

Proponents of the Utah legislation, which requires the daddy to pay half of a girl’s out-of-pocket being pregnant prices, offered the laws as an effort to lower the burden of being pregnant on girls and improve duty for males who’ve kids. When the legislation was proposed, critics argued that it wouldn’t assist girls who’re most weak and will make abusive conditions much more harmful for pregnant girls.