ACTION ALERT: TAKE ACTION TODAY!!
SUPPORT SB 6869 AND HB 3293 TO HELP THE STATE SAVE MONEY AND PRESERVE THE OPTION OF OUT-OF-HOSPITAL BIRTHS WITH LICENSED MIDWIVES.
ENSURE THAT WE HAVE A STRONG LICENSED MIDWIFERY PROFESSION BY REDUCING LICENSING FEES INSTEAD OF INCREASING THEM TO $3,000 PER YEAR.
ACTION: Contact the members and the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee to ask them to give a public hearing to SB 6869 and vote it out of committee. Contact members and the chair of the House Appropriations Committee and ask them to give a public hearing to HB 3293 and vote it out of committee.
MESSAGE: The state of our healthcare system requires new approaches to how we do business. The licensed midwifery profession has been found to directly avoid $473,000 per biennium in costs that would be associated with hospital deliveries covered by the state’s Medicaid program. It has also been found to avoid an estimated $2.7 million in costs from out-of-hospital births when you include private insurance carriers.
A smart way to do business is to ensure that more women have the option of choosing to give birth at home or in free-standing birth centers. With the annual licensing fee at $450 and the possibility of an increase to over $3000, we are losing licensed midwives rather than gaining in numbers (over 25% have been lost in the last few years). The right and fiscally smart thing to do is to give SB 6869/HB3293 a hearing and vote them out of committee, and resolve the licensing fee crisis.
[FEEL FREE TO INCLUDE A PERSONAL MESSAGE AS WELL – AS A PROVIDER, CONSUMER, SUPPORTER]
HOW TO IN FIVE EASY STEPS:
1. Find your District’s 3 legislators (two Representatives, one Senator) by clicking here.
2. Click on these Committee links to see whether your legislators sit on either of the Committees.
3. Call the legislative hotline at 1.800.562.6000
4. Deliver your message (see message, above). You can leave messages for more than one member when you call. You can also personalize it.
5. Call the Committee chairs’ offices and ask them to give a public hearing to SB 6869 and HB 3293.
a. SB 6869: Senator Margarita Prentice, Chair, Senate Ways and Means Committee, 1-360-786-7616.
b. HB 3293: Representative Helen Sommers, Chair, House Appropriations Committee, 1-360-786-7814.
FOR BONUS POINTS:
1. E-mail your legislators. You can provide more information in an e-mail about why you feel strongly about this issue. Legislators’ direct office
e-mails are organized this way: lastname.firstname@leg.wa.gov.
2. Send an extra email to the Committee Chairs and ask them to hear the bill.
a. SB 6869: prentice.margarita@leg.wa.gov
b. HB 3293: sommers.helen@leg.wa.gov
3. Pass this message on to consumers and others who support the choice of birth setting and the need to prevent the state from spending more money than necessary on low-risk deliveries.
4. Save a copy of this alert and your e-mail text because we may need your help to get the bills passed by the full legislature.
BACKGROUND: For years, licensed midwives have struggled under the burden of an exorbitant annual licensing fee. In 2006, MAWS was able to get the legislature to temporarily cap the midwifery licensing fee at $450.00 per year. At one point, however, our licensing fee was over $1000, and there is reason to be concerned about a proposed $3000 per year license fee because current state law requires each licensed healthcare profession to fully fund the cost of their licensing and regulatory program. There are currently fewer than 100 licensed midwives in Washington. This represents a 25% decrease over the past 5 years in the number of licensed midwives practicing in the state. This means consumers have fewer choices, and it also means that more expensive hospital births are the norm for most people. While MAWS supports a woman’s right to determine her birth setting, if licensed midwifery becomes a non-viable profession, women will lose the option of having an out-of-hospital birth with these trained and skilled attendants.
Last year, the Department of Health was directed by the legislature to study the costs versus benefits of licensed midwifery to the State of Washington. The report, entitled “Midwifery Licensure and Discipline Program in Washington State: Economic Costs and Benefits,” was completed October 31, 2007, and released to the Midwives’ Association of Washington State and to the public on January 7, 2008. The study found that low-risk, out-of-hospital births of Medicaid patients cost the state at least $473,000 less than comparable low-risk hospital births during the two-year state budget cycle (or $236,000 per year). The study found that in terms of the broader public benefit, over $2.7 million in costs are avoided per two-year budget cycle when both public and private insurers are included. The study also noted, but did not quantify, many other prospective costs that are avoided, due to the intensive level of prenatal and postnatal care. These include: higher breast-feeding rates, fewer low-birth weight babies, a greatly reduced c-section rate, and a significantly lower risk of other costly medical interventions during labor and birth.
Previously, the Department of Health had submitted to the legislature a study of alternative models for funding the regulation of the healthcare professions. The purpose of the study was to address the disproportionately high licensing fees for professions with a small number of providers. While that study recommended several alternatives for making the fee structure more equitable, the legislature chose not to implement any of them, leaving licensed midwives once again in danger of a $3000 annual licensing fee. Controversy about whether some licensed professions would be “subsidizing” others led to inaction. MAWS’ determination to resolve this issue, plus the support of many legislators, has led to SB 6869 and HB 3293 being introduced in 2008.
Laura Hitchcock
Advocacy and Public Policy Consultant
laurahitchcock@seanet.com
(206) 276-6637 (mobile)
Audrey Levine
Legislative Liaison for MAWS
nelsaud@comcast.net
(360) 709-0888
