An unprecedented US government payment of $500 to the country’s most highly paid midwives could help them retire earlier than expected.
The government has spent nearly $1 billion over the past three years on nurse midwifery programs in California, Oregon and Washington.
The payouts are expected to cover costs for nurse midworkers who work longer hours than expected and provide nursing care during and after childbirth.
In California, the midwives who receive the payment will receive $1,200 per day during pregnancy, a figure that is more than $100,000 above what the state pays midwives in other states.
In Washington, midwomes will get $1.75 per day per day and $1 per day for every day of labor.
The payments will cover the cost of nursing care after birth.
The payments will be made available to nurse and midwife training programs in the two states and also will be available to other public and private sector midwoms, said Stephanie Pfeifer, director of the Office of Nurse and Midwife Certification in the Department of Health and Human Services.
Nurse midwives earn more than other nurse practitioners in the U.S., and they often perform a variety of duties including prenatal care, early and home care, postpartum care and maternity care.
The money is part of a $15 billion package of nursing aid the government has put in place since 2012, when President Donald Trump proposed a reduction in the Medicare reimbursement rate for public health care providers.
The nurse midworkers are the countrys most highly compensated nurse practitioners, earning $174,000 per year.
The payouts to the states and private companies involved are the largest such payments in the history of the U