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Increasing the Supply of Midwives

ACNM works to secure increased funding for nursing and midwifery education within the Public Health Service Act (Title VIII), the National Health Service Corp, and other areas. This is critically important if the ACNM community is to reach its strategic goal of "supplying" 1,000 newly certified midwives per year by the year 2015.

• In the Senate: ACNM is pleased to announce that on September 22, 2009, the following amendment, entered by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) was approved by the Senate Finance Committee for inclusion in comprehensive health reform legislation.
  • To amend Title III, Subtitle A to include a provision that would appropriate $50 million per year for FY2012 through FY2015 to establish a graduate nurse education demonstration program in Medicare. Eligible hospitals would receive Medicare reimbursement for the educational costs, clinical instruction costs, and other direct and indirect costs of an eligible hospital attributable to the training of advanced practice nurses with the skills necessary to provide primary and preventive care, transitional care, chronic care management, and other nursing services appropriate for the Medicare-eligible population.
  • Eligible participants must have an affiliation with one or more accredited schools of nursing (as defined in section 801 of the Public Health Service Act) and partner with two or more non-hospital community-based care settings where at least half of all clinical training occurs. Such an affiliation must include an agreement with the schools of nursing and non-hospital community-based settings to pay for their share of the costs of educational activities. The Secretary may waive the community-based setting requirement for clinical training of advanced practice registered nurses, such as certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse-midwives, in rural and medically underserved areas.
  • Costs under this paragraph are limited to costs attributable to an increase in the enrollment and the number of advanced practice nurse graduates in each training program over the comparable average number from 2006 to 2010 (as determined by the Secretary) but shall not be offset or take into account tuition, fees, or State or local government appropriations. In implementing this provision, CMS must ensure that demonstration cost shall not exceed the appropriation. For purposes of this amendment, the term ―advanced practice nurse shall include a clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist, and certified nurse midwife.

• H.R. 3185
  On July 13, 2009, Rep. Lois Capps, (D-Calif.) introduced H.R. 3185, a bill to provide payment to hospitals for costs of expanded advanced practice nurse training programs. Read the letter of support to Senator Stabenow, member of the Senate Finance Committee, from the nursing community.
  
  
• Letter Urging Economic Stimulus Funding for Health Professions Training Programs

This letter from ACNM and other national health professional and provider organizations urges the House and Senate leaders to provide enhanced funding for health professional training programs as part of the economic stimulus package that Congress is likely to pass early in the 111th Congress.

• Letter Requesting an Increase in Funding for National Health Service Corps (NHSC)

This is a letter from ACNM and other National Health Service Corps stakeholders to the new Administrator of HRSA, Mary Wakefield, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, Peter Orszag, requesting an increase in funding for fiscal year 2010. (March 4, 2009)

For more information, contact ACNM Federal Representative Patrick Cooney at (202) 347-0034 or patrick@federalgrp.com.