Pass the Black Mental Health Momnibus Act

American moms are dying at the highest rate in the developed world, and the United States is the only country in the developed world with rising maternal mortality rates.[1] For every death, 70 more moms experience “near misses.”[2] Black moms are dying at three to four times the rate of their White counterparts,[3] while Native American moms are more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes.[4] Though maternal deaths have increased by 89 percent since 2018, [1] 80 percent of maternal deaths are preventable with appropriate care and treatment.[5]

The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act includes 13 bills that would help decrease maternal deaths and reduce disparities.[6] Key provisions include:

• Funding community-based organizations to address social determinants of health that influence maternal health outcomes, like housing, transportation, and nutrition, and extending Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) eligibility in the postpartum period from 6 months to 24 months and in the breastfeeding period from 12 months to 24 months.
• Investing in digital tools to improve maternal health outcomes in underserved areas.
• Promoting payment models that incentivize maternity care and non-clinical support during and after pregnancy.
• Establishing and funding programs within hospitals to provide pregnant and postpartum patients the ability to report instances of racial, ethnic, or other types of bias.
• Funding local initiatives supporting people with mental health conditions or substance use disorders during or after pregnancy and funding programs to grow and diversify the maternal mental clinical and non-clinical healthcare workforce.
• Ending the practice of shackling pregnant people and targeting funds to federal, state, and local prisons and jails to establish programs for pregnant and postpartum women to access perinatal and postpartum healthcare.
• Requiring the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to consider models that improve the integration of telehealth services in maternal health care and establishing a new CMS Innovation Center demonstration project to promote equity and quality in maternal health outcomes for moms covered by Medicaid.
• Funding community-based programs, research, and health professional schooling that identify and address climate change-related maternal and infant health risks.