|
Return to Advocacy
ACNM Policy Agenda, 2017-2018
The mission of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is to support midwives and
advance the practice of midwifery in order to achieve optimal health for women through their
lifespan, with expertise in well woman and gynecologic care, promoting optimal pregnancy,
physiologic birth, postpartum care, and care of the newborn. ACNM supports the practice of
midwives by promoting education, research, and advocacy that advances clinical excellence,
expansion of a diverse midwifery workforce, and equitable legislation, regulation, and
institutional policies that establish midwifery as the standard of care for women.
ACNM is committed to protecting and advancing the practice of midwifery in the United
States. ACNM will support the continued growth of the midwifery profession by
advocating for policies that reflect and promote ACNM’s standards, expand the midwifery
workforce, and increase the visibility and recognition of the value of midwifery care.
Specifically, ACNM will:
- As recommended by the National Academy of Medicine, the Federal Trade Commission
and a significant body of peer-reviewed evidence, support policies that allow CNMs/CMs
to practice to the full extent of their education and training, without requirement for
physician oversight.
- Work to preserve gains made in the Affordable Care Act with respect to midwifery
services, such as preventive health care services, access to contraception, Medicare
payment equity, and policies benefiting midwifery education, among other things.
- Develop and execute a strategy so that CNMs/CMs may secure unfettered clinical
privileges and full voting membership on the medical staff.
- Support affiliates seeking recognition of the CM credential, and work to obtain
recognition of the CM under Medicare and Medicaid programs.
- Support policies that increase access to student aid and alleviate burdens associated with
student debt, in addition to continued advocacy for funding of midwifery education
programs.
- Promote reforms to the Medicare and Medicaid programs to reimburse CNMs/CMs for
supervising and teaching medical resident, medical students, and student midwives, in
addition to efforts to secure clinical sites for student midwives.
- Support Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) licensure bills that reflect the US MERA
agreements and the positions of ACNM.
All women in the United States should have access to midwifery care, and policies should
support and enable the increasing proportion of women who choose midwives as their care
providers. Specifically, ACNM will:
- Support policies that increase access to midwifery care in all practice settings.
- Work to reform laws and regulations to implement the federal Provider
Nondiscrimination Law and to provide equitable reimbursement for the full scope of
midwifery services, vis-à-vis physicians’ reimbursement rates, by commercial payers and
Medicaid fee-for-service and managed care plans.
- Encourage reforms that reduce the incentives for excessive utilization of unnecessary
medical interventions, and increase the incentives for utilization of measures supporting
normal physiologic birth.
- Support policies that respect a woman’s right to make sexual and reproductive health
choices that meet her individual needs, in addition to recognizing the vital role midwives
play in these health decisions.
- Support policies that protect the rights of women with addictions so they may seek health
care without fear of criminal retribution, in addition to recognizing midwives as
appropriate providers of this care.
This page was last modified 2/6/2017 5:17:04 PM
|
