[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 13, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1883-S1884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Black Maternal Health Week

  Madam President, no community in America has been spared from the 
COVID-19 pandemic. Nationwide, we have lost nearly 570,000 mothers, 
fathers, grandparents, neighbors, and friends. In Illinois, the number 
is 21,000.
  Like so many other diseases and health conditions, the pandemic has 
inflicted disproportionate harm on communities of color: Black 
Americans, Native Americans, and members of the Latinx community. 
Sadly, these disparities come as no surprise. America has a long 
history of medical inequality. From premature births to premature 
deaths, people of color suffer disproportionately in America's troubled 
health system. People of color in

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America suffer more chronic and acute health conditions; they are 
likely to go without needed medical care; and they have shorter life 
expectancies. The reasons for the disparities are many, but they 
include access to affordable healthcare, inadequate research, and too 
few healthcare professionals of color.
  Martin Luther King, Jr., called healthcare inequality the most 
shocking and inhumane form of injustice. Far too often, this inequality 
begins even before birth. It should shock the conscience of America--
one of the wealthiest nations on Earth--that we have one of the poorest 
records on the globe for maternal health.
  Think of this: The United States is 1 of only 13 nations in the world 
wherein the maternal mortality rate--the death of mothers--is worse now 
than it was 25 years ago. How is that possible? Every year in America, 
nearly 1,000 women die from pregnancy-related complications, and 70,000 
others suffer near fatal complications as a result of pregnancy.
  Now think of this: Women of color in the United States are two to 
three times more likely than White women to die as a result of 
pregnancy. In Illinois, sadly, that number is six times more likely. 
What makes these maternal deaths even more tragic is that an estimated 
60 percent--more than half of them--are preventable.
  I have given much thought to this and have spoken with real experts, 
which is why Robin Kelly--the Congresswoman from Illinois--and I joined 
with Senator Duckworth and a number of other Democratic Senators in 
introducing legislation to decrease America's rates of maternal 
sickness and death, especially among new mothers of color. We call our 
measure the MOMMA Act.
  One of the major provisions of this legislation is a requirement that 
Medicaid provide health coverage for new moms for a full year post-
pregnancy instead of just 60 days, which it currently is. Congresswoman 
Kelly and I worked hard to get a modified version of this provision in 
the American Rescue Plan, President Biden's singular achievement in his 
first few weeks in office. Thanks to the law, States now have the 
option to expand their Medicaid programs for new mothers for the next 5 
years.
  Making sure that new moms have health coverage for a full year post-
pregnancy will go a long way toward catching, preventing, and treating 
potentially life-threatening conditions and problems. This is critical 
because, in some States--even in my State of Illinois--nearly 60 
percent of pregnancy-associated deaths occur between 43 and 364 days 
postpartum.
  Well, there is good news to report today. While we are still working 
to pass the MOMMA Act, the State of Illinois pursued another avenue for 
expanding Medicaid coverage for new moms. For over a year, Illinois has 
been seeking a Medicaid section 1115 waiver to allow Medicaid-eligible 
women in our State to keep their health coverage for a year after their 
pregnancies.
  Representatives Kelly, Underwood, Senator Duckworth, and I have been 
leading letters and championing this effort from our State, and, this 
week, I am happy to announce that the Biden-Harris administration 
granted that waiver, making Illinois the very first State in the Nation 
to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for new moms. This will ensure 
access to vital health services, help to promote better birth outcomes, 
reduce the rate of maternal sickness and death in my home State, and, I 
hope, set the stage as a model for other States to follow.
  I can think of no better way to honor this year's Black Maternal 
Health Week than to support State efforts to expand Medicaid healthcare 
to new moms. Another way would be to pass Senator Booker's 2021 Black 
Maternal Health Week resolution, which I am proud to cosponsor.
  As poet Maya Angelou told us, we cannot change the past, but when we 
know better, we must do better. We now know that we can do better to 
protect the lives of pregnant women and newborn babies, and I am 
pleased that my State of Illinois will be part of leading that effort.