Iowa senator introduces legislation to reduce maternal and child mortality rates
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced the Healthy Moms and Babies Act.
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Maternal mortality rates in the United States are continuing to increase.
The data from 2018 to 2020 shows a smaller increase for White and Hispanic women, but a large increase for Black mothers. This is according to the CDC.
Location is one of the major factors impacting expectant mothers from getting the healthcare they need.
In places like Iowa City, Iowa, travel times are between 31 to 60 minutes to the nearest healthcare facility according to the 2020 Iowa’s Barriers to Prenatal Care Project.
“I travel Iowa on my 99-county tour, and we have a lot of rural areas in Iowa and the delivery of healthcare in those areas is very difficult under the best of circumstances,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
Grassley just introduced the Healthy Moms and Babies Act.
“So, we’re concentrating on high-risk pregnancies,” said Grassley. “We’re concentrating on women of color. There’s so many situations where premature births and obviously death.”
The legislation calls for amendments to the Social Security Act to improve maternal health coverage under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
This includes establishing the National Advisory Committee on Reducing Maternal Deaths.
If passed, expectant moms who don’t live near a healthcare facility maybe able to benefit from a provision in the bill which focuses on telehealth.
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