Action Item:

Rural Access Issues

Allow

Medicaid to cover facility fees for birth so that home and birth center settings can cover their marginal costs and accept a larger proportion of Medicaid patients in rural communities.

Ensure

that independent birth centers in rural areas are sustainably financed to improve access to maternity care in rural Texas communities that lack hospitals.

Continue

to allow telehealth benefits for maternity care that have been implemented in response to the ongoing coronavirus public health emergency.