Texas lawmakers hope to advertise a collection of payments addressing maternal and postpartum well being care once they return to Austin on Tuesday.
A few of these payments, reminiscent of extra up-to-date maternal mortality information and doula providers, had assist over the past legislative session in 2021, however didn’t change into legislation. State Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, mentioned she is cautiously optimistic this session.
“This can be a downside that now we have to proceed to handle,” Thierry mentioned. “I hope individuals do not lose sight of the award and say we have already solved maternal mortality and morbidity in Texas; We completely have not.”
Thierry has launched a variety of payments this session that search to handle the excessive charges of maternal mortality in Texas, together with Home Invoice 663, which might create a registry of maternal mortality and morbidity information.
Different payments would require cultural competency training for physicians (HB 1162 and HB 1165), and the creation of a pilot program for doula providers to be coated by Medicaid (HB 465).
“Wholesome mothers equal wholesome infants,” mentioned Rep. Thierry. “Lowering maternal mortality will cut back toddler mortality. All measures are immediately associated to enhancing the well being and well-being of infants, so the issues go hand in hand.
One other invoice recommends including extra group representatives to the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Overview Committee. The committee’s long-overdue report, launched in December, confirmed continued racial disparities in maternal mortality in Texas, the place pregnant black ladies have been twice as more likely to die as their white counterparts.
“Blacks should not simply be a footnote within the report, we’re the report,” Rep. Thierry mentioned.
The components that contribute to maternal mortality are advanced: all the things from psychological well being circumstances to underlying medical issues to discrimination by well being professionals.
“It isn’t a single occasion that causes this tragic loss of life, it’s a complete confluence of occasions,” mentioned Jen Biundo, senior director of coverage and analysis for Wholesome Futures of Texas. “It actually exhibits the necessity for structural change in a variety of areas.”
Increasing Medicaid Protection Throughout Being pregnant
One solution to deal with these disparities and cut back total maternal mortality charges is to increase Medicaid protection throughout being pregnant for 12 months after supply, Biundo mentioned.
Texas lawmakers handed a invoice in 2021 that supplied 6 months of Medicaid after supply, however present protection solely extends two months after supply. A number of payments proposing a one-year extension have additionally been launched on this session.
“A lot of pregnancy-related deaths happen a number of months after supply, associated to psychological well being, reminiscent of postpartum despair, so there’s a actual have to proceed that medical protection,” Biundo mentioned.
Biundo is hopeful of increasing Medicaid protection throughout being pregnant, however “it is at all times a little bit of a wait and see within the legislature.”
“You do not know what you are going to get till it is time to shoot,” he mentioned.
Different well being coverage points, reminiscent of psychological well being providers for youth throughout Texas, entry to gender-affirming look after trans youth, and increasing contraceptive entry and protection, are additionally within the pipeline for the legislative session of 2023.
The session begins on Tuesday.
Do you might have a tip? Electronic mail Elena Rivera at erivera@kera.org. You’ll be able to observe Elena on Twitter @elenaiswriting.
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