Covid Relief Bill Provides Relief for New Moms

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for 2018, the maternal mortality rate was 17.4 per 100,000 live births in the United States. The rate of deaths for Black women is over twice that figure.

by Arielle Kane and Veronica Goodman

Among the lesser reported elements of the Covid-19 relief bill making its way through Congress this month are several improvements to Medicaid to bolster health insurance coverage for low-income individuals. One specific provision would allow states to extend Medicaid coverage to women for up to a full year after giving birth. Newborns in the U.S. are currently covered for up to twelve months. We’ve supported this critical expansion in the past, citing evidence that the U.S. maternal mortality rate has shamefully risen to be the highest among high-income countries.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for 2018, the maternal mortality rate was 17.4 per 100,000 live births in the United States. The rate of deaths for Black women is over twice that figure.

Under current law, Medicaid is only required to cover new mothers for 60 days postpartum, despite the fact that approximately 13 percent of maternal deaths occur six or more weeks after a woman gives birth and Medicaid covers over 40 percent of all births in our country. States that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) allow eligible women to stay on the program after childbirth. But roughly a dozen states have rejected to expand Medicaid and the one-year expansion for new moms would help women living in these states.

The expansion will help address a widespread societal inequity when it comes to access to health care. Low income and women of color are disproportionately more likely to die from childbirth and pregnancy-related complications. Yet, these deaths are not inevitable. A 2018 report found that over 60 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. A few years ago, California started collecting data on maternal deaths and reviewing the clinical failures that led to fatalities. As a result, the state was able to produce evidence-based checklists and training programs to help clinicians address two lethal conditions: high blood pressure and hemorrhage. Now, its maternal death rate is a quarter of the United States as a whole.

Pregnancy and postpartum are an incredibly vulnerable period in any woman’s life. We should be supporting new mothers, and one way is by giving them the health coverage necessary to navigate postpartum care and complications. We applaud Congress, including Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) who is among those spearheading this effort, for their action to address this key inequity in healthcare access for new mothers and we look forward to seeing it enacted along with Covid relief next month.