Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Houston Midwives Honor Rep Green at B.I.R.T.H. Fair

by Lynneece Rooney, CNM
Texas Representative Gene Green (D-TX) was honored at the 9th Annual Bringing Birth Information and Resources to Houston (B.I.R.T.H.) Fair earlier this month. An award honoring his support of women’s health was presented to him by certified nurse-midwives Melanie Dossey, Jackie Griggs, and Pat Jones, with hundreds of advocates in attendance.

Representative Green is the first and only federal legislator who represented Texas as a co-sponsor of the Midwifery Care Access and Reimbursement Equity Act of 2009 (H.R. 1101). (H.R. 1101 was part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010; the law will raise Medicare reimbursement of certified nurse-midwives from 65% to 100% of the physician fee schedule.)

Greenhas shown continued support of women’s health care issues by sponsoring and co-sponsoring numerous women's health care related bills in the past, including the Medicaid Birth Center Reimbursement Act; Heart Disease Education, Analysis Research, and Treatment for Women Act; Birth Defects Prevention, Risk Reduction, and Awareness