[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 19, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H2555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       MATERNAL MORTALITY CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Ms. Kelly) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Madam Speaker, we are in the midst of a 
shameful healthcare crisis. In 2021, there is no reason that giving 
birth should be more dangerous for women today than it was for their 
mothers.
  Despite declining rates and maternal mortality around the world, in 
the United States, the rates have been climbing in recent years. 
Decades of institutional racism in our society and our healthcare 
system have brought us to this moment.
  Data released by the CDC last month shows that the maternal mortality 
crisis is only worsening, and the risks are even greater for Black 
women and other women of color. Black women are three times more 
likely, and indigenous women are more than twice as likely to die from 
pregnancy-related causes as non-Hispanic women. Even worse, more than 
two-thirds of the deaths are preventable.
  Additionally, the rates of pregnancy-related complications are on the 
rise. And for every maternal death in the United States, there are 
approximately 100 women who experience severe maternal morbidity, or a 
``near miss.''
  As chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust and co-
chair of the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls, I have seen 
so many examples of how the healthcare system fails Black women.
  Maternal mortality is a complex crisis with inequities stemming from 
many factors, including access to care, standardization of care, bias, 
and racism. Pregnancy and birth should be one of the happiest times for 
a family, but for Black women that is too often not the case, and we 
must take action now to begin saving the lives and protecting the 
health of Black women.
  One of the most pressing issues related to the maternal mortality 
crisis we must address is access to high-quality, affordable 
healthcare. We know there are major risks associated with becoming 
uninsured shortly after pregnancy.

                              {time}  1115

  That is why I fought to have extended Medicare coverage included in 
the American Rescue Plan, so that women are able to receive postpartum 
care up to 1 year after birth instead of the existing 60 days of 
coverage.
  But we need to take additional steps to incentivize every single 
State to permanently implement this policy. That is why, today, I am 
introducing the Helping Medicaid Offer Maternity Services Act, or 
Helping MOMS Act of 2021.
  This bipartisan legislation will amend the American Rescue Plan to 
provide a permanent State option to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage 
from 60 days after delivery to a full year. The Helping MOMs Act would 
also authorize a 5 percent Federal medical assistance percentage rate 
for the first year that States adopt extended coverage.
  Ensuring healthcare coverage for the entirety of the postpartum 
period will save lives and prevent needless complications that endanger 
the health of mothers and their babies. This is an important step 
forward, but is not the only change that is needed.
  The Black maternal health crisis is a multifactorial epidemic, and 
solving it will require a multifaceted approach. That is why, tomorrow, 
I will reintroduce my Mothers and Offspring Mortality and Morbidity 
Awareness Act, or the MOMMA Act.
  This comprehensive bill tackles a growing maternal mortality crisis 
and severe morbidity in five ways. The MOMMA Act will standardize 
maternal mortality and morbidity data collection across States and 
authorize a designated Federal agency to aggregate that data.
  Maternal heath advocates agree that standardization of data across 
the country is critical in fully understanding this crisis and 
informing future decisions about how to improve women's healthcare.
  This bill will empower the CDC to provide technical guidance and 
publish best practices to prevent maternal mortality and morbidity. It 
will authorize evidence-based national obstetric emergency protocol to 
save mothers' lives.
  The MOMMA Act will expand healthcare coverage through the full 
postpartum year after giving birth.
  Finally, the MOMMA Act will ensure improved access to culturally 
competent care training and workforce practices throughout the entire 
delivery continuum.
  This aspect, in particular, is so important in addressing the harmful 
biases and misconceptions that are, unfortunately, persuasive through 
our healthcare system, but especially rampant when it comes to Black 
maternal health. We have already lost too many mothers to this crisis.
  While many of us celebrated Mother's Day just a few weeks ago, 
families across the country mourned lost mothers and babies and 
remembered traumatic and unacceptable birth stories.
  I have talked with husbands who are so frustrated with the way their 
wives were treated, and wonder if there is something else they could 
have done to protect them. I have heard the heartbreaking stories of 
tragedy and loss directly from these fathers. I have cried with them 
and shared their pain.
  I introduce these bills, the Helping MOMS Act and the MOMMA Act, in 
honor of those mothers and families, and recommit myself to always 
fighting for the health and safety of women.

                          ____________________