The status of CPMs and other Licensed Midwives in the federal-state Medicaid program is in transition. As community midwives become increasingly mainstreamed, the need to provide access to midwifery care for low income families is pressing; however, gaining state cooperation, followed by midwives actually qualifying and functioning as Medicaid providers, involves a series of challenges. Licensed Midwives in California recently achieved a major breakthrough after five years of advocacy, when their state program, Medi-Cal, directed the managed care plans with which it contracts to include licensed Midwives, CNMs, and freestanding birth centers as in-network providers. Recognizing that different states will present different issues, this presentation attempts to map the rough path to a similar result for attorneys who are working with midwife organizations in other states.

Susan Jenkins, Esq., is counsel to The Big Push for Midwives, partner at The Sanchez Law Firm, and a member of BRBA's Advisory Board.