Maternity Care Crisis: Is This the New U.S. Health Emergency?

Hospitals throughout the United States have been shutting down their maternity wards and this has had an overwhelming impact on different states from California to New York and different cities from Los Angeles to Brooklyn. As an example, in California there are nearly 60 hospitals that have now shuttered their delivery rooms. The shutdowns nationwide are affecting many women from all different socio economic backgrounds. However, the shutdowns have had the most dramatic impact on patients with Medicaid insurance. Medicaid is the taxpayer funded, government provided plan for people who cannot afford their own health insurance. And while there is an argument to be made over just who should be eligible for Medicaid, this plan does pay for more than 40-percent of baby deliveries in the U.S. And MediCal which is California’s state version of Medicaid pays more than 50-percent of deliveries in the Golden State. Reporter David Nazar travels to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center to investigate this maternity care crisis.