MAMA Campaign for Members and Supporters
A Victory for Mothers and Babies!
Midwives
and mothers, babies and families, are victors today! With the passage
of the Senate health care reform bill in the U.S. House of
Representatives on Sunday, March 21, and the signature of the President
in the coming days, several provisions that will significantly benefit
mothers and babies will now be the law of the land! These
provisions will increase access to birth options for low-income women
across the country, and will improve the quality of maternity care for
all women in the years to come. The MAMA Campaign is proud to have had
a role in improving conditions for midwives and mothers in this
landmark legislation.
The following are now law:MAMA
Campaign's "partial victory": Senator Cantwell's provision that will
have the effect of requiring Medicaid reimbursement for licensed CPMs
offering services in licensed birth centers
American Association of Birth Center's provision that mandates Medicaid reimbursement of the birth center facility fee
Childbirth Connection's provision requiring quality assessment and improvement measures specific to maternity care
American College of Nurse Midwives' equitable reimbursement act for Certified Nurse Midwives
And: giving birth, having a cesarean section, or being the victim of
domestic abuse will no longer be considered pre-existing conditions and
used to deny insurance coverage to women!
What Happens Now With This Legislative Process?
Last
night, the House of Representatives passed the Senate health care
reform bill that contains the above provisions and the President will
sign this bill into law in the coming days. The House also passed a
companion reconciliation bill, popularly called a "side car" or "fix
it", to address the House's concerns about the Senate bill. This
companion bill now goes to the Senate for consideration. It is
expected that debate will begin in the Senate on Tuesday, and that
Republicans will introduce a number of amendments, with debate taking
several days. The Senate will be considering this bill under the
reconciliation process which requires a simple majority to pass, and
Democrats appear confident that they have the votes to pass this bill
in the Senate.
Thank You for Your Role in This Victory!
Thank
you to each and every one of you who supported the MAMA Campaign and
these provisions for women and families. Every letter that you wrote
and every dollar that you gave made a difference! We look forward
to working with you this year as the MAMA Campaign continues the effort
to cover all CPM services in all settings in the Federal Medicaid
program.
Moving Beyond Health Care Reform- MAMA Continues to Fight for CPMs
MAMA
continues to be on the move for midwives and mothers in Washington,
D.C! The MAMA Campaign Steering Committee met in Washington, D.C. two
weeks ago, March 5th - 7th, to evaluate the campaign to date and to
re-commit to working together to achieve our central goal: to amend
the Social Security Act to require the reimbursement of all CPM
services in the Federal Medicaid program. On March 5th, 8th & 9th,
steering committee members met with 35 Congressional offices on behalf
of midwives and mothers. It was clear in these visits that our policy
gained significant support in 2009 in key offices and that this support
can be leveraged as we move forward in 2010.
You will be hearing
from us over the next weeks and months, asking for your input, your
engagement and your support as MAMA continues to do our part to improve
maternity care in the U.S. and to increase women's access to Certified
Professional Midwives.
Thank Your Legislators!
If
your Senators and Congress Members voted for health care reform,
including the provisions for women and families, please write to them
to thank them. If your legislators voted against health care reform,
please write to ask them to ensure in Federal legislation that women
have access to Certified Professional Midwives, a high-quality,
low-cost option. As always, your legislators need to hear from you on
behalf of midwives and mothers!
Support Your MAMA
In celebration of the passage of our "partial victory" and in support of our on-going work to cover all CPM services in all settings in the Federal Medicaid program, please consider donating to the MAMA Campaign today!
If you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact the campaign at info@mamacampaign.org.
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