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Hospitals, Medical Society Urge Caution on Certificates of Need, Reimbursement as Birth Centers Are Considered
Summary
Hospital groups and the Vermont Medical Society supported patient choice for freestanding birth centers but warned of financial strain on rural obstetrics units and urged higher Medicaid reimbursement and careful review of certificate-of-need exemptions.
Hospital representatives and the Vermont Medical Society told a legislative committee considering S.18 that freestanding birth centers should be an option for pregnant people, but they asked lawmakers to address financial risks to hospital labor-and-delivery units and the state’s reimbursement structure.
"We support accredited birth centers as safe places to birth and support patient choice," Jessa Barnard, executive director of the Vermont Medical Society, told the committee. At the same time she said hospital labor-and-delivery services “need to be sustainable so that when there is a higher risk delivery, there are safe places for all patients to give birth.”
Hospital witnesses described narrow financial margins for obstetric services. Barnard cited a hospital executive’s public comment that the hospital was losing $3 million to $5 million a year on…
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