Why is it so expensive to give birth in America? In a word: supply.
Is a serious Lack of maternity wards Over the big health of the country. Today, more than One third The US counties lack a single hospital maternity unit or maternity provider. America is not a chance, America is suffering High maternal mortality,
America needs to give better results for our mothers and children. Fortunately, a solution is in plain vision: immediate care clinics and ambulance surgical centers allow the freestanding maternal birthting center to open. This baby steps will expand access to safe maternal care, low healthcare costs and improve results – all patients without renouncing safety.
Birthing centers offer a proven model of quality healthcare. These freestanding features run by the rights and physicians are experts of the birth of a low -risk child outside the installation of the traditional hospital. Women who deliver their children to the birth center Strong health resultsHealthy, low -risk women Comparable Results for those who distribute in hospitals and almost have no mortality.
Despite the clear benefits of freestanding maternal birthting centers, they face severe regulator burden that make them difficult to operate. While states vary in their regulatory rule, most are limited in medical services that they can provide and can also be banned from performing most basic Surgical intervention on the site. These restrictions often force the maternal berthing centers to transfer patients to distant hospitals when an emergency arises – or if there is no hospital access, not to open at all.
Perfectly allowing surgical surgical centers and immediate care centers to open and operate berthing centers will help change it. There are immediate care centers Spilled All over the country, and many rural areas often rely For basic healthcare needs on them. Ambulance surgical centers already limited, performing the same day Surgical proceduresDual licensing will help convert these centers into outlets that can provide very important maternal and newborn health care.
Unfortunately, the current federal rules prevent this double objective approach. Center has released for Medicare and Medicade Services Conditions for coverage Essentially ban these centers for a double purpose.
For example, CMS.Gov states, “Regulatory definition of one [Ambulatory Surgical Center] The ASC and another unit, such as an adjacent physician’s office, does not allow functions and operations in a normal location during the operation of concurrent or overlapping hours. “Although the purpose of this rule is to protect the patient’s health, but prevent birth centers from shaking with immediate care centers is very low to help mothers at least.
It is not about cutting corners; This is about giving priority to the results. Ambulance surgical centers should already complete strict federal and state rules for surgical security, staffing and equipment. Immediate care centers are subject to strong oversight. If these features want to add a birth center suite, they still have to follow both sets of rules independently. The only change will be in the availability of maternity services.
There will also be a dual licensing scheme Reduce the cost of healthcareA berthing center has a simple birth $ 5,000 cheaper Compared to the birth of a similar hospital because they avoid unnecessary intervention and staying in the hospital overnight. Removing more specific pregnancies from hospitals to birth centers will also provide hospital beds for the most important pregnancy conditions.
A dual licensing governance is not about changing hospitals or handling every delivery. However, just because hospitals are the most important healthcare facilities, it does not mean that they are the only health facilities. To improve maternal healthcare in the US, we need a flexible healthcare system that can be responsible for the needs of the real world. This ensures that geography does not determine whether a woman has access to professional aid during one of the most important moments of her life – and her child’s important moments.
This cannot be done without federal assistance. The federal government has a lot of financial impact on state and local health care decisions, and the current regulatory rule functionally prevents dual licensing. But this is the cause of optimism; A simple federal fix can save thousands of people’s lives and dollars every year.
Maternal health in the US is at an intersection, and policy makers need to look for smart, targeted reforms that maximize existing resources and meet families where they are. An clear first step is to allow ambulatory surgical centers and immediate care clinics to open berthing centers. It is cost-effective and will save life.
This is the time to update our rules – and with them, our commitment to the health of American mothers and infants.
The Scene-Michael Pigeon is a former law and policy companion at the Sisro Institute. He is a third -year law student at Harvard Law School and does BA in Political Science from Yale.
