The Birth Access Benefiting Improved Essential Facility Services (BABIES) Act

The Birth Access Benefiting Improved Essential Facility Services (BABIES) Act

NACPM supports the American Association of Birth Centers and endorses the BABIES Act that would provide planning grants to establish a demonstration within the Medicaid program of cost-based reimbursement for birth and health centers in 6 states. In the demonstration, freestanding birth centers will be reimbursed based on the cost of care provided to Medicaid beneficiaries. When birth centers provide care, the health of childbearing people and infants improves, due to improved outcomes. Cost-based reimbursement will ensure better health and lower costs. The goal of the legislation is to help to reduce racial disparities with federally funded Birth Centers that will increase access to midwifery care in birth centers. High quality care is needed in communities with poor maternal and infant outcomes, particularly in areas with racial and ethnic disparities. This legislation puts into action the data produced by the Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns initiative of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  This demonstration found that midwifery care in birth centers is a highly effective model to improve outcomes among the Medicaid-insured population, all while saving significant health care dollars.