Advancing Maternal Health

Statement

For the second week in a row, the House has passed bipartisan legislation to improve maternal health. Reducing the maternal mortality rate in the United States continues to a bipartisan priority for the Energy and Commerce Committee. Sadly, pregnancy-related deaths jumped from 7.2 to 18.0 deaths per 100,000 live births from 1987 to 2014, and according to the CDC, around 60% of these types of deaths can be prevented. The passage of recent legislation builds on previous committee efforts to improve maternal health and reduce maternal mortality. With meaningful programs, resources, and research, Congress and the Trump administration are united in our work to advance maternal health.

Yesterday the House passed H.R. 4996, Helping MOMS Act. This bill from Health Subcommittee Republican Leader Dr. Michael Burgess (R-TX), Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), and Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) would allow states to expand Medicaid coverage eligibility for postpartum women for up to one year, a significant increase from the current eligibility of 60 days. For maternity care, Medicaid represents the largest single-payer, so this bill would go a long way to help mothers across the country and reduce maternal mortality.

"This bipartisan legislation furthers Energy and Commerce's mission to address maternal mortality, which we all agree needs further attention, and to improve the health outcomes in expectant or new moms," said Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) speaking in support of the bill on the House floor.

Last week, one of E&C's 10 bipartisan health bills that was passed in the House was H.R. 4995, Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act by Rep. Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Republican Leader Bob Latta (R-OH), and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY). This bill would support best practices and evidence-based programs for maternal health through grants. In addition, this bill promotes maternal health in rural parts of the country by creating rural obstetric networks.

"We must do better in our approach across the entire nation, especially in rural America, to use best practices and provide the necessary resources to stop preventable maternal mortality. The Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act is a great first step of doing just that," said Bucshon on the House floor.

These two bills build upon E&C's work in maternal health. In 2018, President Trump signed the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act into law, a bill advanced by the Energy and Commerce Committee. The goal of this law is to gain additional insight into maternal death causes through better reporting and data collection, as well as supporting maternal mortality review committees in states. Last year, bipartisan E&C members asked six federal agencies for briefings on what the respective agencies are doing to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. E&C bipartisan members expressed concern over the mortality rate as well as the racial disparity in this public health issue writing, "…black mothers have continued to die at three to four times the rate of white mothers, representing one of the widest racial disparities in women's health."

This week, a new initiative, the Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE), was started at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reduce maternal mortality. Through research, this NIH initiative aims to learn more about causes of maternal deaths and complications in order to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded around $16 million to the State Maternal Health Innovation Program. These funds also go toward efforts to help reduce maternal mortality and disparities that exist in maternal health. In addition, around $341 million more was announced for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, which focuses on advancing maternal health in addition to children's health.

All of these efforts in Congress and in the Trump administration are significant steps in our bipartisan goal of improving maternal health and stopping preventable deaths.

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