Relating to the provision of certain information about Medicaid benefits in relation to newborn children, the official text

H.B. No. 3940

AN ACT

relating to the provision of certain information about Medicaid

benefits in relation to newborn children.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,

is amended by adding Section 32.0631 to read as follows:

Sec. 32.0631. ANNUAL NOTICE TO CERTAIN PROVIDERS REGARDING

USE OF MEDICAID IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS WITH RESPECT TO NEWBORN

CHILDREN. The commission shall annually provide written notice to

each managed care organization and health care provider, including

hospitals and other health care facilities participating in

Medicaid that regularly provide health care services to medical

assistance recipients who are pregnant women or newborn children:

(1) reminding the organizations and providers that

when a newborn child of a recipient has not been assigned a Medicaid

identification number, the provider may accept or use the

recipient's Medicaid identification number on any claim for

reimbursement under Medicaid; and

(2) encouraging organizations and providers to

educate recipients who are mothers or the prospective mothers of

newborn children that the recipient may use the recipient's

Medicaid identification number until the recipient's newborn child

is enrolled in Medicaid.

SECTION 2. Section 161.501(a), Health and Safety Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(a) A hospital, birthing center, physician, nurse midwife,

or midwife who provides prenatal care to a pregnant woman during

gestation or at delivery of an infant shall:

(1) provide the woman and the father of the infant, if

possible, or another adult caregiver for the infant, with a

resource pamphlet that includes:

(A) a list of the names, addresses, and phone

numbers of professional organizations that provide postpartum

counseling and assistance to parents relating to postpartum

depression and other emotional trauma associated with pregnancy and

parenting;

(B) information regarding the prevention of

shaken baby syndrome including:

(i) techniques for coping with anger caused

by a crying baby;

(ii) different methods for preventing a

person from shaking a newborn, infant, or other young child;

(iii) the dangerous effects of shaking a

newborn, infant, or other young child; and

(iv) the symptoms of shaken baby syndrome

and who to contact, as recommended by the American Academy of

Pediatrics, if a parent suspects or knows that a baby has been

shaken in order to receive prompt medical treatment;

(C) a list of diseases for which a child is

required by state law to be immunized and the appropriate schedule

for the administration of those immunizations;

(D) the appropriate schedule for follow-up

procedures for newborn screening;

(E) information regarding sudden infant death

syndrome, including current recommendations for infant sleeping

conditions to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome;

(F) educational information in both English and

Spanish on:

(i) pertussis disease and the availability

of a vaccine to protect against pertussis, including information on

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that

parents receive Tdap during the postpartum period to protect

newborns from the transmission of pertussis; and

(ii) the incidence of cytomegalovirus,

birth defects caused by congenital cytomegalovirus, and available

resources for the family of an infant born with congenital

cytomegalovirus; [and]

(G) the danger of heatstroke for a child left

unattended in a motor vehicle; and

(H) information about Medicaid benefits for

children, including eligibility requirements and the process for

applying for those benefits;

(2) if the woman is a recipient of medical assistance

under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, provide the woman and the

father of the infant, if possible, or another adult caregiver with:

(A) a resource guide that includes information in

both English and Spanish relating to the development, health, and

safety of a child from birth until age five, including information

relating to:

(i) [(A)] selecting and interacting with a

primary health care practitioner and establishing a "medical home"

for the child;

(ii) [(B)] dental care;

(iii) [(C)] effective parenting;

(iv) [(D)] child safety;

(v) [(E)] the importance of reading to a

child;

(vi) [(F)] expected developmental

milestones;

(vii) [(G)] health care resources

available in the state;

(viii) [(H)] selecting appropriate child

care; [and]

(ix) [(I)] other resources available in the

state; and

(x) how to contact the commission to report

the child's birth for the purpose of enrolling the newborn child in

Medicaid; and

(B) a written notice developed by the commission

informing the woman, father, or other caregiver that the newborn

child is automatically eligible for Medicaid and that the woman's

Medicaid identification number may be used on reimbursement claims

for services provided to the woman's newborn child until the child

is enrolled in Medicaid and assigned a separate Medicaid

identification number;

(3) document in the woman's record that the woman

received the resource pamphlet described in Subdivision (1) and the

resource guide and notice described in Subdivision (2), if

applicable; and

(4) retain the documentation for at least five years

in the hospital's, birthing center's, physician's, nurse midwife's,

or midwife's records.

SECTION 3. (a) Not later than December 1, 2025:

(1) the Department of State Health Services shall

include the information required by Sections 161.501(a)(1)(H) and

(a)(2)(A)(x), Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, in the

informational materials required by that section; and

(2) the Health and Human Services Commission shall

develop the notice required by Section 161.501(a)(2)(B), Health and

Safety Code, as added by this Act.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 161.501(a), Health and Safety

Code, as amended by this Act, a hospital, birthing center,

physician, nurse midwife, or midwife who provides prenatal care to

a pregnant woman during gestation or at delivery of an infant is not

required to comply with that provision until January 1, 2026.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 3940 was passed by the House on May

12, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 116, Nays 29, 2 present, not

voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 3940 was passed by the Senate on May

26, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

APPROVED: _____________________

Date

_____________________

Governor