The state now has 15 hospitals with birthing centers and six freestanding birthing clinics. In June 2022, the state boosted Medicaid reimbursement rates to hospitals providing birthing services by 25 percent.
“It’s truly troubling to me,” state Sen. Suzanne Prentiss told NHPR. “This is a gap of access to care. For labor and delivery of your baby, if you choose a hospital, there is going to be a gap of access to maternal health.”
