Equitable reimbursement for services provided at birth

centers. A. For the purposes of this section: (1) "birth center" means a freestanding birth center licensed by the state for the primary purpose of performing low-risk deliveries that is not a hospital, attached to a hospital or in a hospital and where births are planned to occur away from the pregnant person's residence following a low-risk pregnancy; (2) "medicaid" means the medical assistance program established pursuant to Title 19 of the federal Social Security Act and regulations issued pursuant to that act; and (3) "medicaid recipient" means a person whom the department has determined to be eligible to receive medicaid-related services. B. The secretary shall adopt rules that: (1) create a methodology to determine medicaid facility fee reimbursement rates for birth centers that are comparable to rates for similar services provided at a hospital; and (2) require annual increases to birth center facility fee reimbursement rates that are equivalent to hospital reimbursement rate increases.