Hochul seeks paid time off for pregnant workers to go to prenatal medical visits
Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at the state Capitol in Albany on Feb. 1, 2023. She proposed on Thursday that pregnant workers should have 40 hours of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments. Credit: AP/Hans Pennink
ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday called for more paid time off from jobs for pregnant workers to attend prenatal medical appointments as part of a package of proposals to reverse an increase in deaths of newborns and mothers.
The expansion of the state’s Paid Family Leave law, if approved by the State Legislature, would provide up to 40 hours of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments during the months of pregnancy. Currently, paid leave under law isn’t available to families until four weeks before a child’s birth and only after a seven-day waiting period.
Hochul said women now have to choose between prenatal medical visits and the hours of pay they would lose. She said minority families in lower-income households have the most need for her proposals, noting that the rise in death rates of women and newborns in those communities is most acute.
“It’s shocking,” Hochul said at a news conference at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. “It demands a response from every level of government.”
WHAT TO KNOW
- Gov. Kathy Hochul called for more paid time off from jobs for pregnant workers to attend prenatal medical appointments as part of a package of proposals to reverse an increase in deaths of newborns and mothers.
- The expansion of the state’s Paid Family Leave law, if approved by the State Legislature, would provide up to 40 hours of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments during the months of pregnancy.
- Hochul said women now have to choose between prenatal medical visits and the hours of pay they would lose.
Hochul said her prenatal paid-leave measure and other provisions in mother-and-infant proposal Thursday will be part of her State of the State speech Tuesday.
Hochul and her staff didn’t release the cost to employers and workers. More details are expected with Tuesday’s State of the State address. But costs may not be revealed until Jan. 16, when Hochul releases her budget proposal to the Legislature.
“We would like to see a measured approach to expanding Paid Family Leave policies before implementing more burdens,” said Patrick Bailey of the state Business Council. Bailey said the state should consider eliminating its extended paid sick leave law for workers who contract COVID19. That would “make it more manageable for businesses to adjust to anything new the state implements moving forward,” Bailey said.
Other elements of Hochul’s prenatal health proposal include:
- A crackdown on physicians who seem to be conducting unnecessary Caesarean-section surgeries on women instead of vaginal births. C-sections provide more revenue to health care providers, take less time and can be more easily scheduled, Hochul said. Her proposal would seek to identify physicians engaging in unnecessary C-sections and to create financial incentives for health care providers to avoid C-sections.
- Eliminating copays and other expenses for pregnancy benefits charged by health insurance plans and for income-qualified families in the state’s Essential Plan, which serves 1.3 million New Yorkers. Eric Linzer of the New York Health Plan Association said private sector health plans are already committed to addressing the costs related to child birth
- Providing cribs to families so newborns can have a safe, separate place to sleep. Lack of a safe, separate crib is blamed in part on 120 infant deaths a year statewide, Hochul said, adding that nonprofit groups would be enlisted in the effort. “We will make sure that every family that needs help finding a crib gets an affordable crib,” she said.
- Providing counselors at the state’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline who are trained in dealing with women facing postpartem depression. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 1 in 8 new mothers suffer from post-partem depression.
- Eliminating the need for a referral from a physician in order for patients to see a doula, also known as a birth companion, birth coach or post-birth supporter. Hochul would also require coverage for doulas for New Yorkers served by the Essential Plan. “It’s a support system that particularly Black and Brown women absolutely need,” Hochul said. Doulas are nonmedical providers who bring physical and emotional support as well as information before, during and after delivery, according to the state Health Department. Doulas are trained by a national organization or community organizations, but there is no universally accepted standards for certification and they are not licensed, the Health Department stated.
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
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