Booker reintroduces bill to expand Medicaid coverage for new mothers, address maternal mortality

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker is renewing his push to combat the nation’s maternal mortality crisis, reintroducing legislation that would dramatically expand Medicaid coverage for new mothers and broaden access to maternal health care.

Booker joined Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) in reintroducing the Maximizing Outcomes for Moms through Medicaid Improvement and Enhancement of Services (MOMMIES) Act, a measure that would extend Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage for postpartum care from 60 days to one year while requiring comprehensive benefits for pregnant and postpartum patients.

The bill comes as the United States continues to post one of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed nations, with Black women more than three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes.   Between 2000 and 2014, the U.S. maternal mortality rate increased by 26%, even as rates fell in most peer countries.

“It is unacceptable that, year after year, more mothers continue to die as a result of our nation’s inequitable and failing health care system — especially women of color,” Booker said.  “The MOMMIES Act is a critical step toward building an equitable, high-quality maternal health care system that protects every mother in America.”

The legislation would also require Medicaid and CHIP to cover dental care for pregnant and postpartum patients, create maternity care home demonstration projects in at least ten states, restore enhanced Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care physicians, OB-GYNs, midwives, and advanced practice clinicians, and encourage states to expand Medicaid coverage for doula services. It also calls for a federal study of telehealth’s role in improving maternity care.