December 18, 2023
Kamala Harris Talks Maternal Mortality Crisis On ‘Married To Medicine’
Harris implored the states which have not signed on to her initiative expanding postpartum care offered under Medicaid to do so, and soon
On Dec. 17, Vice President Kamala Harris joined Dr. Jackie Walters on the popular Bravo television show “Married to Medicine” to discuss a few things Harris wanted mothers to know about the work she has been doing around maternal healthcare.
Harris implored the states that have not signed on to her initiative expanding postpartum care offered under Medicaid to do so soon, saying, “In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the United States of America, we have the highest rates of maternal mortality, that Black women in our country, in this era are three times more likely to die in connection with childbirth. I think it’s inexcusable.”
Harris continued, “We have been fighting for states to expand Medicaid coverage. We need all the states to sign on, and we need to let moms know that they’re actually entitled to Medicaid coverage for up to 12 months of postpartum care and that’s one of the things that we need to get the word out.”
In 2021, Harris called on states to expand their Medicaid postpartum healthcare benefits from two months to 12 as part of a larger initiative from the White House to address maternal mortality and morbidity. In the fact sheet released by the Biden-Harris administration, attention is placed on the fact that Black women’s outcomes are exponentially worse than white women’s:
“This maternal health crisis is particularly devastating for Black and Native American women and women in rural communities. Black women are more than three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications as white women, and Native American women are more than twice as likely, regardless of their income or education.”
Harris continued the work in 2022, launching a government strategy to improve maternal care nationwide. The White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis outlined actionable items for a dozen governmental agencies to bring to bear in order to create more equitable outcomes for women looking to have children.
According to the factsheet, the Biden-Harris administration “also recognizes that addressing the maternal health crisis in the United States requires immediate action. That is why, in addition to urging Congressional action, the White House has mobilized over a dozen federal agencies to develop the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis.”
In the latest developments in Harris’ crusade to address the maternal mortality crisis, ahead of the conversation with Walters on Dec. 15, the Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice-President, Kristine Lucius, and Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tandem convened a roundtable discussion on innovations in maternal healthcare. Per the readout, several new Medicare, Medicaid, and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) initiatives were announced. They included the creation of a Transforming Maternal Health Model by the Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the office that governs the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
According to the readout, “This 10-year payment and care-delivery model will support participating state Medicaid agencies in developing and implementing a whole-person approach to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care for women with Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage.”
It will also help the health outcomes of women giving birth, provide more access to doulas, midwives, and birth centers, and reduce the number of C-section operations.
The HHS also announced an initiative to improve maternal mortality and morbidity using a data-driven approach.
“HHS will partner with states seeking to utilize data and organizational change to reduce the 50% of deaths that occur in the postpartum period. As part of the collaborative, HHS will provide states with the opportunity to work closely with a core team of quality improvement and clinical experts.”
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