First Lady Tammy Murphy and Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman today announced that NJ FamilyCare has increased reimbursement rates for perinatal, midwifery, and community doula care as part of ongoing efforts to improve birth outcomes and make New Jersey the safest, most equitable state in the nation to deliver and raise a baby.
The increases are retroactively effective as of July 1, and made possible by $15 million appropriated in the most recent state budget – matched by $15 million in federal funding – and federal approvals secured by Human Services for NJ FamilyCare, which is the state’s Medicaid and CHIP program. NJ FamilyCare covers approximately 30,000 New Jersey births each year, or about 30 percent of births in the state.
Under the changes:
Reimbursement rates for physicians and midwives will match 100 percent of current Medicare rates for certain maternity-related services, up from 50 percent.
All midwives will receive the same reimbursement rate as physicians for all covered services. This includes midwifery care outside of maternity-related care, such as routine gynecological care.
Community doulas will receive $1,165 for labor support and eight perinatal visits, up from $900.
These changes are part of Human Services’ ongoing efforts to support the First Lady’s NurtureNJ effort, which aims to reduce maternal mortality in the state by 50 percent over five years and eliminate the racial disparities in birth outcomes.