Issue Briefs | Feb 16, 2024

Maternal Health Providers: Enhancing Health Equity Through Payment Parity

Rebecca Lopez, State Health and Value Strategies; Harley Webley and Katherine Villeda, Health Equity Solutions

As the maternal mortality crisis in the United States continues to worsen, one strategy state policymakers are leveraging to expand the maternal health workforce and increase access to quality maternity care is Medicaid coverage of midwives and doulas. This issue brief spotlights the opportunity to enhance health equity in maternity care through payment. The issue brief discusses the landscape of Medicaid reimbursement trends for midwifery and doula coverage and recommends strategies to enhance access to a diversity of maternal care providers through equitable reimbursement.