Becoming a Medicaid Doula in the District 

What does it mean to become a "Medicaid Doula" in the District? In 2022, the DC's Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) established a path for doulas to enroll in Medicaid to bill for services provided to DC Medicaid beneficiaries.  

These trainings are to help a doula navigate enrolling, credentialing, and billing a Medicaid doula as an additional resource to what is shared by DHCF on their website:

• Doula Services (Overview)

• Become a Doula Provider

The DLAC for DC website is not the official method for enrollment in Medicaid. The information shared below is in addition to what is shared by DHCF. To officially enroll as a Medicaid provider please utilize the information provided by DHCF. 

Eligibility

To qualify as a provider a doula must “be at least 18 years of age, possess a high school diploma or equivalent, and possess a current certification by a doula training program or organization, approved by DHCF.”

DHCF also requires a doula to have:

1. Certificate of Occupancy (or Lease) or Business License except for doulas registering in the “individual/solo” category (see Transmittal #22-39) 

2. Disclosure of Ownership 

3. NPI # and Taxonomy 

4. Professional Certification (Interim until DC Health creates a Certification)** 

5. Proof of Liability Insurance of at least $1M per occurrence/$3M per aggregate 

6. W-9 

7. Proof of doula certification from the District (once available)

See DHCF Transmittal #22-34.

**List of Certifications (updated 6.25.26)

1. Doula Trainings International 

2. The Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA) 

3. Black Doula Training (formerly the Black Doula Institute) 

4. Ancient Song Doula Services 

5. Mamatoto Village 

6. Doulas of North America (DONA) 

7. International Childbirth Education Center  

8. Childbirth International (CBI) 

9. MaternityWise 

10. Birth in Color RVA 

11. Birthworks International 

12. Childbirth Professionals International  

13. Commonsense Childbirth, Inc. 

14. HealthConnect One 

15. International Center for Traditional Childbearing - Black Doulas for Black Mamas 

16. International Childbirth Education Association 

17. Mother Health International 

18. SMC Full Circle Training 

19. Shafia Monroe-Doula Training 

20. ToLABOR 

21. Urban Baby Beginnings

22. Mama Glow

23. Birthing from Within

24. Internal Doula Institute 

25. National Black Doula Association

26. Cornerstone Birth Work Training

27. Birthing Kind

28. Rayn Health & Wellness

29. Anew Doula, LLC

30. A Queen Momma Doula Services

31. Not Your Average Doula

32. CocoLife

33. Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings

34. Birthing Arts International 

Relevant Transmittals from DHCF

• Transmittal #22-34, September 30, 2022

• Transmittal #23-36, August 21, 2023

• Transmittal #24-32, November 21, 2024

https://dhcf.dc.gov/maternalhealthprojects

DHCF Enrollment 

Between March 2026 and April 2026, DLAC in partnership with Community Centric Care (CCC) held trainings for doulas to support enrollment as a doula Medicaid provider for DHCF and Fee for Service (FFS) - the first step to becoming a doula Medicaid provider. 

Through these trainings we established a relationship with Maximus, the enrollment software for becoming a Medicaid provider. We also created a guide that doulas can use to walk through step-by-step on becoming a doula Medicaid provider. 

A helpful checklist can be found here. 

The Maximus Doula handbook can be found below. Crystal Jackson, A Queen Momma Doula Services, has created a simplified version that can also be found below. 

Additionally, you can utilize this guide for the 1500 form (link forthcoming). 

If you have further questions or need further assistance, please reach out to dlacfordc@gmail.com. 

Management Care Organization (MCO)* Enrollment, Credentialing, and Billing

After a doula has successfully enrolled with DHCF, the next step is to enroll with the three MCOs in the District:

1. AmeriHealth Caritas DC

2. MedStar Family Choice DC 

3. Health Services for Children with Special Needs, Inc. (HSCSN)

Each MCO requires their own individual process for enrollment. For example, enrolling in AmeriHealth does not enroll you in MedStar or HSCSN. A doula can follow these trainings to learn how to enroll in each of the MCOs. 

You can view trainings from the MCOs on the Doula Learning and Action Collaboratives YouTube Page, https://www.youtube.com/@dlac4dc. 

You can view slides and other related materials from the MCOs related to the trainings are upload to the Drive folder, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vwUDu-HoU0ppbA8pNnAI7iM47Z7YDZWk?usp=sharing. 

*MCOs are also known as Managed Care Plan (MCPs) so you may see these interchanged