Gov. Josh Shapiro signs ‘Owen’s Law’, bill allows donated breast milk to be covered by Medicaid

PITTSBURGH — More sick infants will have the opportunity to get what could be life-saving medicine after Gov. Josh Shapiro signed “Owen’s Law,” a bill that allows donated breast milk to be covered by Medicaid.

Anchor Jennifer Tomazic talked to the local family who pushed for the change and whose baby inspired the law.

Owen’s mom and dad were over the moon when they welcomed him into the world in 2018. The Indiana County infant came early—at 31 weeks—but didn’t initially have any complications.

“All of a sudden, it was just like a switch flipped. And he went from being very healthy, to now he’s the sickest baby,” Owen’s mom Annette Kubalek said.

Owen developed an intestinal disease common in the NICU.

Annette and John Kubalek had 18 days to spend with Owen before he passed away.

Owen is memorialized at the Mid Atlantic Mothers’ Milk Bank in the Strip District and in what should become a new state law soon called Owen’s Law.

Denise O’Connor, director of the milk bank, has been working on legislation to get more sick babies donated breast milk for years. Owen’s Law expands Medicaid coverage to cover pasteurized donor milk for infants with very specific diagnoses and it creates a list, defining when donor milk is appropriate for NICU babies based on medical evidence.

“some of them have exhausted any other form of nutrition and for them, donor milk is truly life-saving medicine,” O’Connor said.

Life-saving medicine Annette says Owen was not offered when he was initially born because she says he didn’t meet the criteria back in 2018.

“Maybe if he would have got that breast milk for the two or three days until my milk came he, he might not have developed NEC because breast milk is the most protective thing that can protect against NEC,” Annette Kubalek said.

So she agreed to share her story and lend Owen’s name to the bill.

“Because to me, this means so much better access to care for the milk that so many of these babies need,” Annette Kubalek said.

“This is real, this is real lives, these are infants and families that are affected,” O’Connor said.

This year, the Mid Atlantic Mother’s Milk Bank is on track to donate nearly 400,000 ounces of breast milk to 55 hospitals across four states.

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