Dear Friends, <br>This is another CALL TO ACTION
from Citizens for Midwifery! <br>The Patients' Bill of
Rights was passed by the Senate late Friday 6/29, and
now will be debated in the House. Therefore, it is
time to WRITE LETTERS to your Representatives in
Congress. And if you haven't yet written to your Senators,
it is not too late - the bill will be amended in the
House, and if passed, the two different versions will go
to a conference committee; both Senators and
Representatives will be on that conference committee which will
further amend the bill. <br><br>This opportunity to bring
the Midwives Model of Care (TM) to the attention of
our elected officials in Washington continues! Again,
please note that this action has been initiated by
Citizens for Midwifery, not by any midwifery
<br>organization(s). <br><br>And Pam Maurath will be going to
Washington on THIS MONDAY, July 2, and will deliver copies
of any letters you have faxed or e-mailed to her by
the end of Sunday, July 1. But even if you can't make
that deadline, do go ahead and FAX or EMAIL to your
members of Congress TODAY! <br><br>Citizens for Midwifery
has heard from many people who have been frustrated
to discover that their HMO plans do not pay for
cost-effective midwife-attended out-of-hospital birth. At this
time, the Patient's Bill of Rights, a consumer
protection bill (at least in theory), does not mention or
provide for any kind of midwifery care under HMOs. Let's
let our Senators and <br>Representatives in
Washington know what WE want! Any version of the bill that
is passed should include language that assures
access to midwifery care in all settings, in other
words, says that women in HMOs should not be limited to
obstetricians for maternity care, but should have the option of
choosing a midwife. The addition of just a few words in
one part of the bill would <br>address this
deficiency: <br>S.1256 <br>SEC. XX104. ACCESS TO SPECIALTY
CARE. <br>(a) OBSTETRICAL AND GYNECOLOGICAL CARE-
<br><br>(1) IN GENERAL- If a group health plan, or a health
insurance issuer in connection with the provision of health
insurance coverage, requires or provides for a participant,
beneficiary, or enrollee to designate a participating primary
care provider-- <br>(A) the plan or issuer shall
permit such an individual who is a female to designate a
participating physician who specializes in obstetrics and
gynecology as the individual's primary care provider OR A
NATIONALLY-CERTIFIED AND STATE-REGULATED MIDWIFE, AS THE INDIVIDUAL'S
<br>MATERNITY CARE PROVIDER; and ... <br>You can read the
entire bill at: &lt;&lt;
<br><a href=http://www.senate.gov/~daschle/issues/index.html&gt;&gt;
target=new>http://www.senate.gov/~daschle/issues/index.html&gt;&gt;</a> click on
"health care" (doctor icon on lower
right) and look for "read the text...".