In Case You Missed Them The First Time: Read The MAMA Campaign's Weekly E-news Updates
The MAMA Campaign sends out weekly enews updates to people who sign up to support the campaign. You can sign up too. So if you missed them the first time, below you will find the last few weeks' e-news updates.
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Date Sent 12-3-09
_MAMA Can’t Wait to See You!_
We hope you had an excellent Thanksgiving week! Congress took all of last
week off, but now Congress members are back in D.C. and ready to finish up
health care reform. It’s time to get Congress back into the swing of things
and remind them that they still have work to do to insure quality maternity
care for all women! Don’t forget to write your members of Congress today to
ask them to include Certified Professional Midwives in any health care
reform legislation! Your Senators need to hear from YOU, regardless of
their position on health care reform. Visit http://mamacampaign.squarespace.com/sample-letter/ for sample letters you
can use to contact your legislators.
_Remember: you can get back into the swing of things yourself by attending
the MAMA Webinar this Thursday, December 3rd at 8pm Eastern Standard Time._
_Our federal lobbyist, Billy Wynne,_ will join representatives from the
Campaign Steering Committee for an exciting webinar about the MAMA
Campaign. Learn about how MAMA is still hard at work to include our
amendment to reimburse CPMs in the federal Medicaid program in the final
bill that will go to the President to be signed early next year.
You are invited to join us to hear about MAMA’s important partial success in
getting pro-CPM language inserted into the Senate’s health care reform bill,
and our plans to continue the fight! You will hear:
* What the new language in the Senate bill will mean for midwives and
mothers across the country
* How impressive support for CPMs that MAMA has built among key
legislators over the last six months will serve midwives and mothers
well for years to come
* About the most successful fundraising campaign for midwifery ever!
* What the next steps are this year for Federal recognition for CPMs
It is easy to participate in the webinar! Visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/709957571 to register and
receive easy steps to join us.
The response to this Webinar has been extraordinary, with dozens of MAMA’s
best friends from across the country already registered to participate.
_Go Ahead, Ask Us Anything!_
MAMA wants to answer your questions: email a question to
info@mamacampaign.org and put “Webinar Question Submission” on the
subject line. Here’s an example of one of the questions we’ve received
already:
"I wrote to my Senator…I got a form letter response and I don’t think they
really understand the issue or that I really got through to them. It feels
like they’re not really paying attention. Do you think they really read my
letter?"
_Mary Lawlor, MAMA Campaign Co-Chair, offers this answer:_
Yes, your letters are read! Every communication that you have with your
legislator, either by letter or phone call, is noted and reported by the
appropriate legislative aides. We know that even several letters to a
Senator on a topic from constituents, will raise awareness in the office
about that issue. Remember it is the job of the legislator to listen to
the concerns and priorities of those they represent! As MAMA Campaign
representatives visit Senate offices in Washington, DC, it is clear that
these offices are hearing about CPMs from the folks back home. Recently,
Senator Cantwell responded directly to MAMA supporters in Washington State
with a partial victory for CPMs when she included language in the Senator
Finance bill that will have the effect of mandating that CPMs providing
services in licensed birth centers be paid their provider fee! So keep
those letters coming! And be sure to use “Certified Professional
Midwives”, rather than CPM, in all of your letters and calls!
Join us on Thursday for more answers to all your questions! We look forward
to your participation!
_Letter of the Week_
Susan Moray wrote both her Senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon,
and asked them to close the deal for midwives in the health care reform
bill:
"As a Certified Professional Midwife in Oregon I am asking that you support
efforts to improve the maternity care system by adding Certified
Professional Midwives to the list of providers covered by Medicaid…I have
attended over 600 births at home in my capacity as a CPM and believe all
women, regardless of their income should have access to the safe,
high-quality, cost-effective care provided by CPM."
We’re grateful that the Senate has stood up for CPMs working in birth
centers, but CPMs, like Susan who has a busy _homebirth_ practice, make us
realize that we still have a lot of fighting to do! We are determined to
stand for all CPMs, whether they practice in birth centers or in people’s
homes. You too can ask a Senator to be a champion for CPMs! Visit http://mamacampaign.squarespace.com/sample-letter/
to write a letter to your Senator.
_If you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact the campaign
at info@mamacampaign.org._
___________________________________________________________________
Date Sent: 11-24-09
MAMA Gives Thanks!
The MAMA Campaign is moving forward with great energy and determination to include Certified Professional Midwives in health care bills this year! As the country enters the Thanksgiving Week, we want to take a moment to give thanks for the extraordinary strides made in a few short months on Capitol Hill for midwives and mothers. And we want to express our deepest appreciation to all of you: our supporters, whose dedication, stamina, generosity, letters and dollars have made this progress possible.
MAMA is thankful for:
- Amazing grassroots participation from across the country—mothers, fathers, grandparents, midwives and other supporters—for your letters, calls and visits to legislators in support of CPMs
- Great support from key congress members who have declared the provision for CPMs to be “good policy for women and babies”
- Senator Cantwell (D-WA), for her provision in the Senate bill that will result in payment of the provider fee for state-licensed CPMs who provide services in licensed birth centers.
- Washington State midwives, for the data they prepared for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) demonstrating significant improvements in quality and cost savings with CPM care
- Campaign donations of more than $140,000 that have resulted in the most successful fundraising campaign for midwives and mothers ever!
MAMA Needs Your Help On the Homestretch!
It’s time to “Pound the Table”! As MAMA continues negotiations to find a Senator to file the CPM provision as an amendment on the Senate floor, this is the time for ALL of us to send a clear message to all our Senators: Certified Professional Midwives will lower health care costs and improve the health of women and babies. There is a pregnant-woman sized hole in this legislation, Mrs. or Mr. Senator. Please fix it!
Find easy letter-writing information and sample letter text here. If you’ve already written a letter, write again! Please keep those letters coming!!!
Letter of the Week
Elizabeth Gilmore of New Mexico wrote a personal appeal to her Senator, Jeff Bingaman, asking him to “be our champion” on Capitol Hill:
"I am an enthusiastic constituent in Taos, NM, where you came to the ribbon-cutting of our Birth Center, in 1997…We are currently Medicaid providers in NM but only because our governor insisted. When he leaves office we may lose this designation because we still are not recognized by Federal Medicaid as providers!"
You too can ask a Senator to be a champion for CPMs! Click here to write a letter to your Senator.
Who Are MAMA’s donors?
She is a mother of four who has Medicaid, who paid out of pocket for her last two home waterbirths, and gave what she could to MAMA!
He is the father of three homeborn children and a nationally known musician, whose passion for his children’s births moved him to generously donate.
She is a midwife who dreams that someday not so far off she will be able to serve more low income women in her community.
She is the grandmother of five, whose daughter triumphed by having a vaginal birth with a CPM after a Cesarean in the hospital.
He is the best friend of a young couple finding their way through a first, surprise pregnancy with the love and guidance of a midwife.
She is a public health policymaker who recognizes that the status quo does not serve women and babies, and wants to help make a change.
She is a new mother who has been transformed through the experience of her birth, and wants to share it with everyone she knows.
She is me, he is you, they are us, working together to bring about big change with our big and small change. Every dollar counts! MAMA fundraising is on a roll, with only $30,000 needed to keep the campaign on track through December. Please help us over the finish line! Donate to MAMA today!
NEW DATE FOR THE MAMA WEBINAR: December 3
MAMA Has Good News to Share! Join Us for a Webinar on December 3rd to Learn All About It!
Our federal lobbyist, Billy Wynne will join representatives from the Campaign Steering Committee, on Thursday, December 3rd, for an exciting webinar about the MAMA Campaign at 8 pm EST. Please note that this is a new date. The webinar was previously scheduled for the beginning of Thanksgiving week, but that week was too busy for too many of our supporters so we have postponed the date a week to accommodate our supporters.
The effort to secure federal recognition of CPMs got a big boost – language beneficial to CPMs is included in the Senate health care bill just released on Wednesday, November 18th. And MAMA is still hard at work to include our amendment to reimburse CPMs in the federal Medicaid program in the final bill that will go to the President to be signed early next year.
You are invited to join us to hear:
- What this new language in the Senate bill will mean for midwives and mothers across the country
- About the most successful fundraising campaign for midwifery ever!
- What the next steps are this year for Federal recognition for CPMs
It is easy to participate in the webinar! Click here to register and receive easy steps to join us.
And during the webinar MAMA wants to answer your questions: email a question to info@mamacampaign.org and put “Webinar Question Submission” in the subject line.
MAMA thanks you for all your support. Happy Thanksgiving!
If you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact the campaign at info@mamacampaign.org.
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Date Sent: 11-17-09
Items in this email:
1. Congress takes an important step forward for CPMs!
2. We need your help
3. Join MAMA for a Webinar about the Campaign next Monday!
Congress takes an important step forward for CPMs!
MAMA’s hard work, with your intrepid support, is paying off! The Senate Finance Committee has included l
anguage in their bill that will advance the interests of CPMs and the women they serve - thanks to the support of a key Senator secured by MAMA!
On Friday, November 13th, MAMA representatives met with a top health aide to Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington State. In direct response to MAMA advocac y, Senator Cantwell has included a provision in the Senate Finance Committee bill that will require Medicaid to reimburse licensed birth attendants (which would include state-licensed CPMs) who provide services in licensed birth centers. We were told that the Senator feels strongly about including CPMs in the health care bill and recognizes that her home state of Washington has played a leading role in demonstrating the high quality and low cost of CPM care. The Senator has heard the call from MAMA loud and clear and committed to finding a way to move the ball forward for CPMs.
Building from language crafted by the American Association of Birth Centers for legislation that will require that birth centers receive payment for facility fees, Senator Cantwell was able to add language specifying payment to the providers - licensed birth attendants - as well. Other Finance Committee members, including the Chairman, lined up with Senator Cantwell in support of her provision, demonstrating that our outreach to those offices has also borne fruit. Of great significance, she has also secured the commitment of Senator Reid, the Democratic Majority Leader at the center of crafting the final health care bill this year, to keep her language in this year’s final bill. Inclusion of this language represents a significant commitment on the part of the Senator, and we are very grateful to her for this important step forward for CPMs and for expanded choice for women and families!
As a key member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Cantwell has a limited number of initiatives that she can champion herself, but she has offered to fully support any other Senator who will file MAMA’s original provision on the floor of the Senate to require that Medicaid reimburse all CPMs in all settings.
We are proud of and grateful to all of the midwives and mothers in action in Washington State for the successful outreach to their Senator! And we are grateful to all of you who have helped to secure the wide support that the MAMA Campaign and CPMs enjoy in the Senate!
The provision included in the Senate Finance Committee bill will provide a strong legislative platform for further action to secure access to CPMs for all childbearing women, both in the current health care bill and in the years to come. It is interesting to note that a number of states have first secured just a portion of their initial legislative “ask” , and then accomplished their original goal in a subsequent year. In New Hampshire, for example, the midwives went to the legislature to mandate that all insurance carriers in the state reimburse the licensed midwives. That year, a mandate was passed that only reimbursed midwives operating out of licensed birth centers. The following year, the midwives were successful in having the mandate expanded to cover all licensed midwives offering services in all settings.
What is next for MAMA this year?
MAMA remains committed to including our original provision to mandate Medicaid reimbursement for all CPM services, regardless of site of birth, in the health care bills this year! We are in negotiation with Senate Finance Committee offices in the effort to secure a champion to file our amendment on the floor of the Senate. In addition, we have a strategy to leverage our support in both chambers to include our provision in the final bill that will be signed by the President, whatever the outcome in the Senate.
Caption: "Thumbs Up to CPMs! Brynne Potter and Mary Lawlor in Wshington DC
We need your help!
Please keep those letters to your Senators coming! You never know which letter will take us over the top and into the bill! Write today!
And please keep your dollars coming! You have made possible the most successful fundraising campaign for midwives ever! Now we are asking that you dig just a little deeper to fund us through the end of this legislative session. We have raised $140,000 to date! Washington State donors have been especially generous, accounting for 20% of this amount. We must raise an additional $30,000 in the next few weeks. If you have not given yet, please make a donation today. If you have given, please consider an additional gift today.
Join MAMA in a Webinar about the Campaign next Monday!
Please join the MAMA campaign steering committee for an informational webinar on the MAMA Campaign on Monday, November 23rd from 8-9 PM EST. Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/709957571. Come learn about our strategy, about exciting new developments in the campaign and about how you can support the Campaign’s efforts to secure federal recognition of Certified Professional Midwives. The webinar will also strive to answer questions from supporters, so please submit questions ahead of the webinar by emailing info@mamacampaign.org, subject line” Webinar Question Submission.” Click https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/709957571 to register for the webinar.
MAMA thanks you for your support. If you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact the campaign at info@mamacampaign.org.
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Date Sent: 11-11-09
Subject: News from the MAMA Campaign: " Health Care Reform Moves Forward"
With Your Help CPMs Can Be Part of Health Care Reform!
Health Care Reform Moves Forward
On Saturday, November 7th, the House passed their bill, HR3962. From any perspective, this was an historic vote.
We, of course, are very disappointed that CPMs are not included in this bill. Up to the last minute, efforts were underway by the Campaign and our lobbyist, Billy Wynne from Health Policy Source, to include CPMs in the manager’s amendment to the bill, prior to the final vote. The MAMA Campaign has been working hard since early July with House committee staff to prod the Congressional Budget Office to score our provision for CPMs, an essential step for inclusion of any provision. Because the CBO has been under such intense pressure from both chambers to score a massive number of provisions and bills, we still do not have a fiscal impact score.
The Campaign has extraordinary support in the House, and committee staff considers the CPM provision to be “good policy for women and babies.” With a CBO score, CPMs would likely have been in either the base bill or the manager’s amendment to the House bill; without the score, the staff could not take the step of including CPMs at this time. Our significant support in the House may yet help us prevail on the Hill this year.
The MAMA Campaign is now focusing hard on the support we have built in the Senate and is working day and night to get Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) included as Medicaid providers as a floor amendment to the Senate bill. We need your help! Please write to and call your Senators today and ask them to include CPMs in the Senate bill! Your support, as constituents, advocates and donors is essential to this effort!
Now is the Time to Commit to Justice in Maternity Care
To inspire us as we focus our efforts in the Senate, we are reminding ourselves why hundreds of volunteers across the United States are working so hard for this cause. Because mothers, infants and families nationwide deserve high-quality, high-value maternity care and most of them are not receiving it! We believe women and infants have a right to excellent care during one of the most powerful yet vulnerable periods in their lives. A country as wealthy and capable as the United States can do better than what is currently the norm in maternity care.
How Do CPMs Make a Difference?
Certified Professional Midwives—by providing holistic, compassionate and skillful services to expectant mothers—are achieving positive results. Care provided by CPMs promotes healthy mothers and babies, and results in fewer Cesarean sections, fewer premature infants, more full term, full weight infants, more breastfeeding and more women satisfied with their childbirth experiences. And all this while saving precious health care dollars! Including CPMs in the Federal Medicaid program will help increase access to maternity care, improve health outcomes for women and infants, and reduce racial and ethnic perinatal disparities.
A study conducted by the CDC comparing infant mortality data from the United States with data from developed countries, found much worse rates for the US. The report specifically found that the very high US rates of inductions and planned cesarean sections, which result in higher rates of preterm and late preterm births, are significant contributors to the US’s dismal statistics. Because CPMs wait for labor to occur on its own, and only transport for cesarean section when truly needed, having CPMs widely used could help address this serious and inexcusable US problem.
Spotlight on Certified Professional Midwife: Jennie Joseph
Jennie Joseph is a CPM with 26 years of expertise in midwifery and women’s health care. She created the JJ Way, which is changing lives in central Florida, because she believes that every woman has the right, and should have the opportunity, to have a healthy baby. Using the JJ Way she is reducing the rate of infants born prematurely and increasing birth weight among her primarily African American clientele. She is dramatically improving outcomes among vulnerable families. One of Jennie’s secrets to success: engage women and families as full partners in their own care.
Watch Jennie describe her work.
Excellent Letter of the Week
Stephanie Fox wrote to her Senators, Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona. She wanted them to know how important it is that midwives be available to women regardless of income:
"Health care reform must address the problems and high costs of maternity care in the U.S and ensure safe, qualified maternity care providers for all pregnant women. I know the difference in care and cost for both having hospital and home births. My hospital birth was expensive and challenging. My two home births together did not cost what my hospital birth did ten years previously. The care I received from the hospital was sub-par whereas my home birth care was wonderfully comforting and my recovery time was dramatically shorter. All women regardless of income deserve high-quality maternity health care that is both cost-effective and safe."
Thanks, Stephanie, for taking the time to a write letter. CPM supporters—please write to your Senators today! And send us a copy.
MAMA Is Blogging Health Care Reform
You can follow the health care reform debate with MAMA! Read the latest post on our blog which features articles from the New York Times and Washington Post about the new CDC study and how the US compares so poorly with other nations when it comes to infant mortality.
Read our thoughts on the issue at The Grapevine.
Donate to the MAMA Campaign!
MAMA fundraising is on a roll. We only need $30,000 more to keep MAMA fed through December, that is, all the way to the likely end of the health care reform debate and the passing of the bill! We need your help to complete this historic fundraising effort! You can help us get to the finish line by donating today!
MAMA thanks you for your support. If you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact the campaign at info@mamacampaign.org.
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Date Sent: 10-06-09
Subject: News from the MAMA Campaign: "Help Get MAMA Across the Finish Line"
Hello Supporters!
-From Mary and Susan, Co-Chairs of the MAMA Campaign
What a summer this has been for Midwives and Mothers in Washington, DC! Now, as the health care bills pick up speed in Congress this fall, we need your support and your dollars more than ever. Billy Wynne, our lobbyist, wrote to us this past week: “You should feel very good about the massive education campaign you’ve undertaken and the broad support you’ve gained …now it’s crunch time!”
Just since May, the MAMA Campaign has accomplished a lot by acting quickly and effectively.
We have:
- Drafted an amendment to recognize and reimburse CPMs in Medicaid
- Hired a national health policy and lobbying firm to guide our advocacy work in DC
- Held a “fly-in” of more than twenty MAMA activists to Washington, DC, in June who met with over 30 key congress members
- Traveled to DC nearly every week since then and followed up with supporters to keep the pressure up
- Prepared a cost-analysis based on Medicaid data from a health policy study in Washington State that was submitted to the Congressional Budget Office on our behalf by Chairman Waxman’s office
- Met with 8 top Medicaid officials in Baltimore in July, an unusual opportunity for a provider group new to Capitol Hill
- Monitored and adjusted our strategy weekly as the proposed legislation twists and turns through Congress
- Secured the support of important national groups: Childbirth Connection, the National Women’s Law Center, the National Women’s Health Network, Raising Women’s Voices, Our Bodies Ourselves, the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, American Association of Birth Centers, and state midwifery and consumer groups
- And we have continued to manage the campaign using the pro-bono skills and expertise of top leadership in six national midwifery and citizen organizations as well as activated superb grassroots support across the country.
Over these next weeks we will continue to have opportunities to include Certified Professional Midwives in the health care bills. However, the time is growing short and we really need your help. As Billy says, it’s crunch time!
Every step of the way you have stood behind us. Thank you! Together we have raised $100,000 for the Campaign this summer – 2/3 of our goal and a truly stunning fundraising coup for our movement! We are so grateful to you!!
Now we need your help to get across the finish line!
- Will you give $10, $25, $50 or even $100 to continue our work for federal recognition of CPMs? Just click to donate.
- Will you help us identify potential major donors? Write to president@nacpm.org with ideas.
- If you have given, can you give again? Just click here.
And of course, be sure to keep the letters to your legislators coming – we need that “dull roar” from the states and districts to move our provision over the top! Constituents are the ones that legislators are listening to. That’s you! Find letter templates and instructions on our website.
Thank you so much! We look for to hearing from you!
Mary Lawlor, CPM
President, NACPM
National Co-Chair, MAMA Campaign
Susan Hodges
President, Citizens for Midwifery
National Co-Chair, MAMA Campaign
______________________________________________________________________________
Date Sent: 9-29-09
Subject: News from the MAMA Campaign: "Visualizing Our Goals"
Visualizing our Goals
Federal Recognition: What Does it Mean?
You’ve seen this phrase on the news: the United States Senate is “marking up” its version of health care reform. Mark up means the formal public sessions in which legislation is drafted and amended. The bills are huge and complicated, and Congress makes many changes along the way, but eventually there will be a single bill in the Senate and a single bill in the House. And in those final bills, we still hope to see Certified Professional Midwives included as Medicaid providers.
But what, exactly, will that mean? How will federal recognition change the lives of midwives and the communities of women they serve?
Federal recognition of the Certified Professional Midwife, which we hope to achieve by adding CPMs to the list of approved Medicaid providers, will benefit mothers and midwives in three ways:
1) CPMs who are licensed will be eligible to receive Medicaid reimbursement for their fees, which will allow Medicaid mothers access to the same provider options as are currently available to mothers who have other methods of payment, such as private insurance;
2) Clients who are covered by other insurance policies will be more likely to receive reimbursement for CPM services because many insurance companies use the Medicaid provider list as a guideline for reimbursement; and
3) States that are working toward licensure will have a more persuasive argument for state recognition if CPMs are on the federal list of Medicaid providers.
If CPMs were added to the federal list of Medicaid providers, licensed CPMs would have the option of accepting Medicaid (but would not have to). In the eleven states that currently reimburse midwives from state Medicaid funds, it means that the state will be eligible for matching federal funds for purposes of reimbursement, thus reducing the burden on state funds. Including CPMs as approved Medicaid providers means that Medicaid mothers will have access to more maternity care options.
Use Your Voice!
If you haven’t written a letter yet, now is the time! If you have already written, it’s time to write again!
Your Senators and Representatives in Congress won’t pay attention to this issue unless they hear from YOU – their constituents – in large numbers. At this time, a very brief letter is as good as a longer letter, and you can find everything you need to know at our web site.
Write to your legislator today! Tell them to support federal recognition for Certified Professional Midwives. We’ve made it easy for you; just follow this link.
Activists of the Week: Missoula Supports Midwives
On September 24th, children born at home marched with their parents and midwives in Missoula, Montana.
Caption: Erika Hickey (left) and Julie Tompkins hold a sign with a simple message for Senator Baucus, the powerful Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
MAMA Is Blogging Health Care Reform.
You can follow the health care reform debate with MAMA! Read the latest post on our blog, The Grapevine.
Donate Your Resources: A Message from the Co-chair!
Caption: Mary Lawlor, MAMA Campaign Co-Chair, lobbies Congress for federal recognition for Certified Professional Midwives.
|
Our Midwives and Mothers have come so far so fast in Washington, D.C. this summer! We have garnered great support and momentum on the Hill for including CPMs in the federal Medicaid program. Your passion and support, your letters and your dollars have fueled this momentum. As the health care bills in the House and the Senate gather steam this fall, please keep your letters coming. And please keep your dollars coming as well! Could you donate $25, $50, or even $100 to the cause of federal recognition for CPMs? If you have already donated, could you give again? Every dollar helps move us closer to our goal! Your generosity is deeply appreciated. Just click to donate.Thank you! _______________________________________________________________________________________
Date Sent: 9-22-09Subject: News from the MAMA Campaign: "Its Crunch Time"
It’s Crunch Time |
Visualizing our Goals
Federal Recognition: What Does it Mean?
You’ve seen this phrase on the news: the United States Senate is “marking up” its version of health care reform. Mark up means the formal public sessions in which legislation is drafted and amended. The bills are huge and complicated, and Congress makes many changes along the way, but eventually there will be a single bill in the Senate and a single bill in the House. And in those final bills, we still hope to see Certified Professional Midwives included as Medicaid providers.
But what, exactly, will that mean? How will federal recognition change the lives of midwives and the communities of women they serve?
Federal recognition of the Certified Professional Midwife, which we hope to achieve by adding CPMs to the list of approved Medicaid providers, will benefit mothers and midwives in three ways:
1) CPMs who are licensed will be eligible to receive Medicaid reimbursement for their fees, which will allow Medicaid mothers access to the same provider options as are currently available to mothers who have other methods of payment, such as private insurance;
2) Clients who are covered by other insurance policies will be more likely to receive reimbursement for CPM services because many insurance companies use the Medicaid provider list as a guideline for reimbursement; and
3) States that are working toward licensure will have a more persuasive argument for state recognition if CPMs are on the federal list of Medicaid providers.
If CPMs were added to the federal list of Medicaid providers, licensed CPMs would have the option of accepting Medicaid (but would not have to). In the eleven states that currently reimburse midwives from state Medicaid funds, it means that the state will be eligible for matching federal funds for purposes of reimbursement, thus reducing the burden on state funds. Including CPMs as approved Medicaid providers means that Medicaid mothers will have access to more maternity care options.
Sign Up with MAMA
Do you receive news and action alerts directly from the MAMA Campaign? If not, please sign up at http://mamacampaign.squarespace.com/signup/.
Use Your Voice!
If you haven’t written a letter yet, now is the time! If you have already written, it’s time to write again!
Your Senators and Representatives in Congress won’t pay attention to this issue unless they hear from YOU – their constituents – in large numbers. At this time, a very brief letter is as good as a longer letter, and you can find everything you need to know at our web site.
Write to your legislator today! Tell them to support federal recognition for Certified Professional Midwives. We’ve made it easy for you; just follow this link.
Activists of the Week: Missoula Supports Midwives
On September 24th, children born at home marched with their parents and midwives in Missoula, Montana.
Caption: Erika Hickey (left) and Julie Tompkins hold a sign with a simple message for Senator Baucus, the powerful Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
MAMA Is Blogging Health Care Reform.
You can follow the health care reform debate with MAMA! Read the latest post on our blog, The Grapevine.
Donate Your Resources: A Message from the Co-chair!
Caption: Mary Lawlor, MAMA Campaign Co-Chair, lobbies Congress for federal recognition for Certified Professional Midwives.
Our Midwives and Mothers have come so far so fast in Washington, D.C. this summer! We have garnered great support and momentum on the Hill for including CPMs in the federal Medicaid program. Your passion and support, your letters and your dollars have fueled this momentum.
As the health care bills in the House and the Senate gather steam this fall, please keep your letters coming. And please keep your dollars coming as well! Could you donate $25, $50, or even $100 to the cause of federal recognition for CPMs? If you have already donated, could you give again? Every dollar helps move us closer to our goal! Your generosity is deeply appreciated.
Just click to donate.
Thank you!
