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 Minnesota - and the nation - Ripe for maternity reform right now.
National Birth Center Legislation is in need of support now!
From BirthCenters.org: Please call your U.S. Representative and two Senators to ask them to support The Medicaid Birth Center Reimbursement Act. In the House, it
is bill H.R. 2358. In the Senate it is bill S.1423. Strong bipartisan
co-sponsorship in the House and Senate are critical. ACT NOW!
Call Your Legislators in 5 Easy Steps
- CALL your 2 U.S. SENATORS and U.S. Representative at their D.C. offices.
To find your Senators and their contact information, click here.
To find your Representative and his/her contact information, click here.
OR
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senator or Representative
- Keep
trying if you don't get through. We must make our voices heard and
there are many people calling about health care reform and the energy
bill.
- Speak with your Senator's legislative health assistant.
Be sure to get his/her name. This is critical information for Karen to
follow-up with the staff. Please note that we have found that emails
and messages left with receptionists are not working.
- Ask that your Senator/Representative co-sponsor The Medicaid Birth Center Reimbursement Act (H.R. 2359 in the House, S.1423 in
the Senate). Tell them CMS is denying payment for birth center facility
charges, so we have introduced legislation to Congress adding Birth
centers to Medicaid's covered services. This is a permanent solution to
the payment crisis.
- Call or email AABC's lobbyist Karen Fennell
and tell her who you talked with and any comments or additional
information requested. Call Karen at 301-830-3910; Send email to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
Last year the efforts were:
The birth center bill originated in the Senate as S.F. 780- with Chief Author, Linda Berglin:
Birthing center licensure establishment.
House of
Representatives member today in support of HF 1795, which would establish birth
centers in Minnesota.
S.F. 1468-Marty: Hospital policy on cesarean section regulation is tabled until 2010.
S.F. 1469-Marty: Individual health plan coverage denial for previous
cesarean delivery prohibition.
Residents of committee member districts please let the committee members know that you support the
creation of freestanding birth centers run by midwives in Minnesota, or even
just that you support HF1795. Parents and friends can email/call
as well. Please check Susan Lane's article for a list of the committee members and their general district area.
Questions on status of the Minnesota Birth Center bill may be directed to Maria Ruud, Chief author for the House version of the bill,
with your thanks. Her email is
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Read more about this bill, and its course through legislation, in the Pregnancy & Birth Section, scroll down and click the title Birth Centers.
Better Birth. Lower Cost.
Senators Berglin and Pappas introduced Senate File 0780, a bill to license birth centers
in Minnesota, in Winter 2009. All women at low risk for their birth could receive
excellent, evidence-based care at a lower cost than hospitals could
charge. (Senator Berlin, photo left)
Senator Marty authored two VBAC bills (vaginal birth after cesarean). The first, SF1469
would prohibit a health carrier (insurance company or MA) from refusing
to cover a resident solely on the basis of a previous cesarean
delivery. Senator Marty's second bill, SF1468 would prohibit hospitals from prohibiting a pregnant woman from choosing a vaginal
birth solely because the woman has previously undergone delivery by cesarean
section.
(Twin Cities ICAN members Sarah Shannon and Heather Deatrick testify
with Senator Marty, here consulting with Maureen Campion of Parenting
Oasis, photo right)
Another bill of interest, SF1478, authored by Senator Sheid,
explored whether the Minnesota Health Dept can be exempt from parental
informed consent for using newborn blood samples in DNA tests beyond
the purposes of newborn metabolic screening (PKU, Hyperthyroidism,
etc).
Please write or email your legislators
concerning these bills. Read more about the Birth Center Bill and Birth
Center thoughts on MinnesotaBirth's Birth Center article.
Currently there are out-of-hospital birth centers opening in Minnesota.
Morning Star Womens' Health and Birth Center in Edina (until the St. Louis Park bldg opens) is the new sister center to MorningStar in Menomenie, WI. Nearly 20% of the families birthing there
with Paula Bernini Feigal come from the Twin Cities area. Minnesota
families would like birth center care for their births. Amy Johnson-Grass, ND, is opening a birth center on Grand Ave. in St. Paul during the winter of 2010, hopefully in February.
Our March for Better Birth was in the news!
Click to read Care 11 article
For more information, visit Minnesota Better Birth Coalition or join us on Facebook.
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