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N.J. hearing spotlights barriers to out-of-hospital births; witnesses urge pay parity, Medicaid coverage and fewer practice restrictions
Summary
Midwives, doulas, hospitals and insurers told a New Jersey Assembly panel that expanding births outside hospitals will require payment parity, clearer Medicaid rules for birth centers and removing mandatory physician collaborative agreements that limit midwives’ independent practice.
Members of an Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee heard two hours of testimony on expanding out-of-hospital births in New Jersey, where witnesses said regulatory and insurance rules make community births hard to access for many families.
Several witnesses urged policy changes to increase the midwifery workforce and make birth centers and home births affordable. Arminie Pierre Jacques, a program officer at the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, recommended five steps including “establishing pay parity for midwives,” expanding insurance and Medicaid coverage for midwifery services, improving licensing and approval processes for birth centers, implementing a statewide transfer agreement with hospitals, and eliminating mandatory collaborative agreements with physicians that restrict midwives’ autonomy.
The testimony cited data and lived experience.…
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