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Permalink Reply by melicia on November 15, 2008 at 5:41pm

friends,

if you guys could take a few minutes and make a call that would be AWESOME! also, if you can share this with anyone who might care, that'd be even more AWESOME!

basically, private insurance companies reimburse health care providers based on what medicaid says it will pay. because birth centers, including my own, are committed to providing that option to ALL women, we participate in the medicaid program. as it is, medicaid (and private insurers after them) reimburse us pennies on the dollar compared to what hospitals get for the same low-risk births despite the fact that our care is a million times more personalized and birth centers often offer more facilities (ie. jacuzzis) than a typical hospital setting might have.

certain groups are fighting to eliminate reimbursement for birth center births at the state level. we don't want this to become a national trend....yours truly will be out of business and worse families will no longer have the option of the services.

thanks a bunch!

peace, melicia


American Association of Birth Centers
Legislative Alert


URGENT ACTION NEEDED NOW
Your Reimbursement Is At Stake

Dear Melicia,

We are writing to ask you to contact your Federal Representatives and Senators--it is now or never to mandate the Birth Center facility fee in Medicaid!

Our Goal - 50 calls this week!

As you know, we are working hard to mandate the birth center facility fee in Medicaid. The Texas case against CMS is just one battle. The only permanent solution for us in the Medicaid program and with other insurers is to pass legislation making birth centers an official mandated provider.

The Texas case will not solve this problem! It is clear that even if we win, CMS will write new rules that will effectively shut down birth centers all over. Now, we need legislation to stop them. We may already have missed our chance to tag on to the next major piece of legislation--the Economic Stimulus package. But we still have a chance with the Children's Health Bill (S-CHIP), but ONLY if Congress hears from you and your consumers.
Act Now!
Each and every one of you must take action to put birth centers on the Congressional radar. The birth center community must take the lead on this--Congress won't take any action for us unless it hears from its constituents. AABC's lobbyinst Karen Fennell is busy making Congressional visits, but they are saying they have not heard from you--so it must not be important . . .

Right now, Rep. Susan Davis (CA) will sponsor the bill and Rep. Lois Capps (CA) will co-sponsors, but we need many more--including Republicans so it has bi-partisan support.

Call your Representatives and Senators.
To find out who they are use these links
Find your Senators - http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Find your Representatives - http://www.house.gov/ - use the tool in the upper left hand corner
The American College of Nurse-Midwives also has a tool on their website - http://capwiz.com/acnm/dbq/officials/?lvl=C
If you have any trouble making contact, call Karen Fennell--she will help.
Use the linked flyer ("Pregnant Women's Access to Care Threatened") as a referencefor help with talking points and:
Tell them you are a (midwife, staff person or client) of a birth center that cares for Medicaid women. Other birth centers have already closed due to lack of facility reimbursement.
On the House side, ask Democrats to co-sponsor our bill which would add Birth Centers to Medicaid covered services. (Our bill does not have a number yet). Ask House Republicans to be a sponsor or lead. On the Senate side, we need leads and sponsors in both parties.
Please notify Karen of your calls. Provide her with the representative's name, the staff person's name, and any questions or information she should be aware of. Karen's contact info: tel: 301-830-3910 - email: karenfennell50@yahoo.com. Please also cc me on these emails:
jkalliman@yahoo.com (tel: 423-253-4455).

This is urgent if we want to sustain birth centers in the United States. Please call today. Remember, this is your survival we are working for--we need 50 calls this week!

Please pass this on to your Friends of the Birth Center groups and ask them to call too.

Sincerely,

Jill Alliman, CNM, MSN
Legislative Chair
American Association of Birth Centers

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Permalink Reply by Andrea on December 21, 2008 at 6:26pm

Hi Melicia,

Is your center only getting an encounter fee for the patients you treat? I've heard of how these capitation plans can result in a loss for health care facilities, and we definitely don’t want that to happen! This creates a problem where people don’t get individual care and it just builds poor accountability into the system.

Where is your birthing center? Can you tell us more about it?

andrea

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Permalink Reply by Andrea on December 21, 2008 at 6:18pm

Please join in on an important discussion about healthcare policy and employability for persons with chronic diseases!

The purpose of this discussion will be to develop strategies that can offer persons with chronic diseases broader coverage under ADA law, thereby increasing their opportunities for challenging work. Linking chronically ill patients with solid employment offers financial stability for people whose lives are otherwise devastated by growing medical debt, and it provides a pathway to health insurance for the very people that need it the most. Most importantly, placement of talented candidates in jobs that take advantage of their full potential can endow people with the self-confidence that has been taken away by their illness.

I will be hosting this dialogue in my home in Kensington, Brooklyn at 6:30 PM on Monday, December 29th. (For more details please view my posting under the events page).

Please help me shape an approach to this very important issue.

Happy holidays to you all!

Andrea

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