How Insurers are Still Pulling Maternity Coverage from Pregnant Women’s Plans

by Melissa Garvey, ACNM Writer and EditorAs of 2014, maternity care coverage in the United States will take a step up. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, health insurance plans will no longer be able to turn away applicants based on the “preexisting condition” of pregnancy. Maternity care coverage will also be mandatory for individual and small-group insurance plans as

Access to Midwifery Care Improves Maternity Outcomes

by Tina Johnson, CNM, MS, ACNM Director of Professional Practice & Health PolicyThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will bring millions of newly insured citizens into the health care system. In order to meet the country’s needs, leaders are calling for high value, evidence-based solutions. Let’s start with the health condition that affects 100% of all Americans...childbirth! How can

Quality of US Maternity Care on Track to Improve With or Without Legislation

by Melissa Garvey, ACNM Writer and EditorAs you may have already heard from ACNM Federal Lobbyist Patrick Cooney, health reform legislation has reached a startling, disappointing halt. We are not sure what this means for the numerous provisions that would increase access to midwifery and birth centers.In the face of this development, I’d like to take time out to raise everyone’s spirits and

Women Would Be Better Off If Reform Passes

While President Obama and congressional Democrats discuss the public option and the absence of bipartisan support for health care reform, a front-page article in Monday’s edition of Politico proposes that highlighting the particular importance of proposed reforms to women may be the key to successful reform.Women have a lot to gain if health reform legislation passes. Protections mentioned in

Midwives Included in Health Care Reform

National Midwifery Week (October 4-10) starts this Sunday, and we have some wonderful news to kick off the week. Equitable reimbursement for certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) under Medicare is now included in both the House and Senate health care reform bills!The midwifery equity provision made it into the Senate bill last night after Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) introduced it as part of an amendment

What do Midwives and Women Think about Health Care Reform?

In August, ACNM endorsed the House health reform bill, H.R.3200. This week we're watching closely as the Senate Finance Committee is finalizing its own version of the legislation. These are controversial pieces of legislation. So, tell us what you think! Let’s voice our opinions and share informative resources to fuel the discussion. Is health care reform good for women, midwives, Americans? What

Persistence Pays for Minnesota Midwife

by Brielle Stoyke, CNM, Minnesota Chapter Legislative Contact Senator Al Franken and Brielle Stoyke, CNMIn December 2007, I was invited to a fundraiser for Al Franken. Franken was running for a Minnesota Senate seat. I went that night thinking maybe there would be an opportunity to talk to him directly about S. 662, the Midwifery Care Access and Reimbursement Equity Act, just in case he was

Washington State Stacks Financial Incentives in Favor of Vaginal Birth

The state of Washington is taking an innovative step toward tackling rising cesarean section rates by eliminating the profit motive. Beginning this month, the state’s Medicaid reimbursement for uncomplicated cesarean sections dropped from approximately $3,600 to about $1,000—the same reimbursement provided for complicated vaginal birth.Because the cost of vaginal birth is lower than the cost of

Nurses Stand with Obama; Are Midwives Next?

by Dawn Durain, CNM, ACNM Vice PresidentI was trying to find some news coverage on the Sonia Sotomayor hearings on Wednesday afternoon, when suddenly there was President Obama on the White House steps surrounded by women! This being an atypical sight, I quickly unmuted. As it turned out, the people accompanying the president were mostly nurses and members of the Congressional Nursing

CNM/CM Medicare Reimbursement Legislation Included in House Health Reform Bill

Senate Medicare bill (S. 662) has 18 co-sponsors and counting!by Laura Jenson, CNM, MSSo, the best thing about making that first phone call to my representative’s health legislative aide was finding out how easy it is. Sure, I had made quick phone calls in the past to legislators’ offices asking that they support this or that bill, my zip code is 60623, OK, thank you very much, bye! But I had

Are You In The Know?

Straight from the ACNM Communications Department, here are our top picks for happenings in midwifery for the week:Authors of an Obstetrics & Gynecology article say they encourage midwifery care and “support future randomized trials to compare” home vs. hospital births. The statement comes in response to a letter from certified nurse-midwife Judith Rooks and Our Bodies, Ourselves Executive

The Article that President Obama is Reading

According to an article in the New York Times, President Obama is singing the praises of Atul Gawande’s “The Cost Conundrum,” which was recently published in The New Yorker magazine. Gawande’s piece investigates the geographic variations in health care cost per person, in particular McAllen, TX—the most expensive place in the US for health care. The piece is certainly impressive, calling