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From Kentucky Lantern

By Sarah Ladd

FRANKFORT — Another bill aimed at opening the way for freestanding birth centers in Kentucky unanimously passed a House committee Wednesday morning.

House Bill 90 is the sister bill to Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer’s Senate Bill 17, which already passed the Senate — the first time a freestanding birth center bill passed that chamber in the half a decade the legislation has been considered in Kentucky.

Birthing centers with no more than four beds would not be required to obtain a certificate of need from the state under the legislation.

Of the two identical bills, SB 17 is expected to be the one that crosses the legislative finish line, HB 90’s sponsor, Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, said before the House Licensing, Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee.

“I think this will be the last time we’re trying to get this bill through this committee,” said Nemes, who’s tried for years to get a version of his legislation into law.

Compromises this year include requiring centers to have a physician medical director and a hospital transfer agreement. Centers would also have to be within 30 miles of a hospital, but if a hospital closed after a center opened within 30 miles, that birth center would be exempt from the distance requirement.

No one testified against the bill, and Nemes said he is not aware of anyone against it after compromises led to support or neutrality.