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Texas lawmakers hope to advance a sequence of payments addressing maternal and postpartum well being care after they return to Austin Tuesday.
A few of these payments, like doula companies and extra up-to-date maternal mortality knowledge, had help over the last legislative session in 2021 however didn’t get signed into regulation. State Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, mentioned she feels cautiously optimistic this session.
“This is a matter that we now have to proceed to deal with,” Thierry mentioned. “I hope folks don’t take their eyes off the prize and say we’ve already solved maternal mortality and morbidity in Texas—we completely haven’t.”
Thierry has launched a variety of payments this session searching for to deal with the excessive charges of maternal mortality in Texas, together with House Bill 663, which might create a maternal mortality and morbidity knowledge registry.
Different payments would require cultural competency schooling for physicians (H.B. 1162 and H.B. 1165), and the creation of a pilot program for doula companies to be lined by Medicaid (H.B. 465).
“Wholesome mothers equal wholesome infants,” mentioned Rep. Thierry. “Decreasing maternal mortality goes to cut back toddler mortality. The entire measures are immediately correlated to enhancing the well being and well-being of infants, and so the problems go hand in hand.”
One other invoice recommends including extra group representatives to the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee. The committee’s long-delayed report, launched in December, confirmed continued racial disparities in maternal mortality in Texas, the place Black pregnant people were twice as likely to die than their white counterparts.
“Black folks mustn’t simply be a footnote within the report, we’re the report,” Rep. Thierry mentioned.
The contributing elements for maternal mortality are advanced: everything from mental health conditions to underlying medical issues to discrimination by health professionals.
“It’s not only one 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.”
Extending being pregnant Medicaid protection
One technique to deal with these disparities, and decrease maternal mortality charges total is extending pregnancy Medicaid coverage for 12 months after giving delivery, Biundo mentioned.
Texas lawmakers handed a invoice in 2021 that provided 6 months of Medicaid after giving birth, however present protection solely extends two months postpartum. A number of payments proposing an extension to a 12 months have additionally been launched this session.
“A lot of pregnancy-related deaths happen a number of months after supply, associated to psychological well being like postpartum melancholy, and so there’s an actual must proceed that medical protection,” Biundo mentioned.
Biundo feels hopeful about increasing being pregnant Medicaid protection, however “it’s all the time a little bit bit wait and see within the legislature.”
“You don’t know what you’ll get till the session gavel’s in,” she mentioned.
Different well being coverage points, like mental health services for youth across Texas, entry to gender-affirming care for trans youth, and expanding access and coverage for contraceptives, are additionally on deck for the 2023 legislative session.
The session begins Tuesday.
Obtained a tip? E-mail Elena Rivera at erivera@kera.org. You’ll be able to observe Elena on Twitter @elenaiswriting.
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