The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Alabama HB 598 mandates insurance coverage for doulas and midwives and creates rural maternal health fund
Last action · March 10, 2026: Pending Committee Action in House of OriginSponsor: Curtis Travis
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Would Do
This bill establishes the Rural Maternal and Infant Health Equity Act to expand prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care in rural areas through midwife and services, workforce training, and facility grants starting October 1, 2026. It requires the Alabama Medicaid Agency and all authorized insurers in the state to provide coverage for midwife and doula services. Additionally, the legislation creates the Rural Maternal and Infant Health Equity Program Fund in the State Treasury.
Rural pregnant residents gain guaranteed insurance and Medicaid coverage for midwife and care, while rural hospitals and clinics become eligible for capital grants and workforce loan repayments beginning October 1, 2026.
- Rural areas often face severe shortages of obstetric care providers and higher maternal mortality rates compared to urban centers. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Rural residents
Rural residents gain expanded access to prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care services through new community-based grants and mandatory insurance coverage.
Authorized insurers
All insurance companies authorized to sell insurance in Alabama must include coverage for midwife and doula services.
Midwives and doulas
Midwives and doulas become eligible for integrated maternity care roles, grant support, and mandatory insurance reimbursement.
Rural hospitals and birth centers
Rural health facilities become eligible for capital grants to establish, expand, or modernize obstetric units and labor support facilities.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who qualifies as a midwife under this legislation?
What areas of Alabama are considered rural under the bill?
Where does the money for the new fund come from?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- Mar 10, 2026HouseCommitteePending Committee Action in House of Origin
- Mar 10, 2026HouseIntroducedRead for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means General Fund
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
alison.legislature.state.al.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools