Childbearing women will soon be one step closer to guaranteed access to CPM services

Exciting news! The Midwives And Mothers In Action (MAMA) Campaign is very pleased to announce that a bill to amend the Social Security Act to mandate reimbursement for all CPM services for women insured by Medicaid will be introduced in the House of Representatives this week!  

MAMA is very grateful to Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01) for stepping forward to increase low-income women’s access to high-value maternity care by introducing this important piece of legislation.  Watch for MAMA’s announcement of the bill number just as soon as it available.  Introduction in the 111th Congress this year will give our bill an important advantage for re-introduction when the 112th Congress is seated in January 2011.

Your support was crucial!  All of your support, letters to your legislators, all of the dollars you have contributed to this historic effort to increase women’s access to CPMs - combined with non-stop MAMA Campaign advocacy on the Hill over the past year and a half - have made this milestone possible.  Thank you!!

Your continued help will guarantee our success.  We know that introduction of our bill is an essential first step – a signal that the real work is just beginning.  As soon as the 112th Congress convenes in January, 2011, and the CPM bill is reintroduced, MAMA will reach out to you to petition your legislators to become co-sponsors on this important piece of legislation.  Your timely help will be essential!  Watch for MAMA updates early in the New Year.

What you can do now:

• Strongly encourage your friends, family, clients, colleagues, state association members, and Facebook friends to sign up for updates and information about outreach to legislators at www.mamacampaign.org.   Spread the word that momentum is building for access to CPMs!  MAMA needs everyone’s help to build her network of connections.
  
  
• Make a contribution to MAMA!  MAMA needs your help now to raise the funds necessary to propel the CPM bill forward.  Encourage everyone you know to contribute to MAMA.  Over the past 1 ½ years you helped MAMA raise unprecedented dollars for this cause – over $180,000.   Now we’ve got our foot in the Congressional door but it is only through your continuing support that MAMA will be successful.  Make a contribution today at www.mamacampaign.org!  We will put your contribution to work for midwives and mothers.

While MAMA has quietly been at work on the new CPM bill, we’ve also been working for you on the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) passed in March 2010 which mandates Medicaid reimbursement of all licensed providers working in licensed birth centers.  Again we extend our thanks to Senator Cantwell for “getting the ball rolling for CPMs” by insuring that licensed CPMs practicing in licensed birth centers will have their provider fee reimbursed by Medicaid.  



MAMA meets with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This past summer, MAMA representatives, Mary Lawlor, Ida Darragh, Jo Anne Myers-Ciecko and Katie Pahner from our intrepid lobby firm, Health Policy Source, met with CMS staff at their headquarters in Baltimore.  In a dynamic working meeting, MAMA provided CMS with information and technical assistance about CPMs and their work in birth centers.  Through Health Policy Source, MAMA has continued to interact with CMS as they prepare their letter of guidance that will soon go out to all State Medicaid Directors to implement this important provision.  

MAMA stands prepared to support the midwives in the states as they work with their state Medicaid officials to implement this provision, as well as the birth center facility fee reimbursement mandate as it relates to CPM birth centers.  Through Health Policy Source, MAMA will have continued access to CMS for clarification of issues that may arise during state implementation.  Please contact Mary Lawlor at president@nacpm.org for information and help.  

Watch for a new and improved MAMA Campaign in 2011!  MAMA will have a fresh, dynamic new “look” and our new web platform will make it easier than ever for you to contact your legislators and support the passage of the CPM bill.

Please work for MAMA as she works for you! We need each other now more than ever.   We hope you and your families shared a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday together.

                          



• 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 increase women’s access to Certified Professional Midwives, please consider donating to the MAMA Campaign today!

If you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact the campaign at info@mamacampaign.org.

He may be hedging his bets.  Or he may be laying the ground for the complicated strategy that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to have initiated today, a dual-track strategy that would involve working on multiple bills at the same time.

It was a big speech at a critical political time for the President, but it remains to be seen if it has any effect on health care reform.  We will see.

UPDATE: For a concise analysis of the overall speech, see Marc Shields and David Brooks on the News Hour.

And now?  The chances don't look good, but there is still a chance.

But according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, there are not enough votes in the House to do that.

The Senate, for its part, appears quite through with doing any work on the thing for now.