In March the Governor and the Department of Health and Human Services decided to stop a decades old policy of providing prenatal care to all low-income women and over 1,600 women and unborn children lost access to prenatal care. A simple administrative fix is still available to remedy this change and Appleseed and others will continue to push for a return to Nebraska’s long-standing policy of ensuring the health of all women and babies in the state.
In the meantime, the conversation about prenatal care in Nebraska continues in multiple places and ways, a testament to the importance Nebraskans place on the health and well-being of women and babies:
- The Nebraska Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers along with Social Worker and State Senator Gwen Howard, raised funds for prenatal care for low-income women, as did supporters of the One World Community Health Center including Omaha’s Westminster Presbyterian Church and St. Paul United Methodist Church: Omaha World-Herald article
- The Babies Born Healthy website also continues going strong sharing information about health care access and the importance of prenatal care. http://www.facebook.com/#!/BabiesBornHealthy
- UNMC, One World Community Health Center, and other nonprofit health care providers continue to care for women and babies
The need to continue the dialogue about prenatal care access is clear. Women need information about prenatal care and access to services. And we as Nebraskans need to continue to dialogue about ways we can make our values of family and community align with our state choices about care for women and babies.
Nebraska Appleseed is doing our part to continue the conversation as well. We will host a webinar sharing information and updates about the issue on June 24, 2010 at 12:00 noon. We invite you to participate!
Please join Appleseed Staff Attorney James Goddard to learn about how these legislative and administrative changes impact Nebraskans. We will share information on the most recent developments with LB 403, as well as alternate options for prenatal services and access to emergency services. We will also discuss next steps in debate about the prenatal care issue, including methods for tracking outcomes for women and babies. Please register and be a part of the conversation!
To register for the online event
- Go to http://bit.ly/anSEAb
- Click “Register”
- On the registration form, enter your information and then click “Submit”.
Also, see our “Questions and Answers: Medicaid Coverage of Prenatal Care for Pregnant Womenâ€