Pregnant women will have greater access to health as a result of two pieces of legislation signed this week by Governor Jon S. Corzine.

The first bill, A-2539 /S-1125, requires health care insurance carriers to reimburse obstetrical providers in installment payments for maternity services provided over the term of a woman’s pregnancy, rather than after the birth of the child. Covered payments will now occur on an on-going basis and include office visits, other pre-natal care, as well as the delivery of the baby.

The second bill, S-2231/A-3110 adds nurse midwives to the list of medical professionals who can certify medical conditions of individuals under New Jersey’s “Temporary Disability Benefits Law” and “Work First New Jersey Act.”

“The stability of our healthcare systems is of utmost concerns to all Americans,” said Governor Corzine. “These two bills that I am signing represent our continued attention toward the delivery of quality health cares services, equally focusing on the patient, and those that provide these vital services.”
 
The Governor came to Newark's Community Health Center to sign the midwife bill because the network of federally qualified health care centers, where nurse midwives have an increasingly-important role in monitoring the health of expectant mothers, will benefit from the measure. During the 2009 Fiscal Year, Newark received $700,000 in State funds to expand and provide more prenatal care services to the center’s service population.