Schakowsky, Blunt Rochester Introduce Legislation to Improve Maternal Health Care and Save Moms’ Lives

Full Text of Bill (PDF)

WASHINGTON - Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), a Founding Member of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, introduced the Innovative Maternal Payment and Coverage To (IMPACT To) Save Moms Act, legislation aimed at transforming maternity care delivery and ensuring continuity of health insurance coverage for women from prenatal care through one year postpartum. Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE).

The legislation would establish a new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center demonstration project focused on developing innovative maternity care payment models and improving maternal health outcomes nationwide.

"Black women in the U.S. are still far more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, and that is unacceptable," said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. "In the richest country in the world, every person deserves access to high-quality, equitable maternal health care before, during, and after pregnancy. I'm proud to reintroduce the IMPACT to Save Moms Act alongside Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester to help create innovative maternity care payment models and expand continuous health insurance coverage for pregnant women, helping ensure timely diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment throughout pregnancy and postpartum care. No one should lose their life because our health care system failed to provide the care they needed at one of the most critical moments of their lives."

"As a mother and grandmother, I know first-hand the joys and challenges that motherhood brings," said Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester. "I'm proud to lead legislation that strengthens the healthcare services afforded to moms across the country. It's time that we ensure moms receive the same caliber of care that they so often give to others."

Specifically, the IMPACT to Save Moms Act would:

• Direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a five-year Perinatal Care Alternative Payment Model Demonstration Project, giving states the ability to test new payment approaches for maternity care under Medicaid and CHIP programs.
• Adjust payments based on pregnancy risk level to help ensure high-risk patients are directed to the appropriate level of care.
• Tie payments to measurable health outcomes rather than volume of services.
• Explicitly incorporates consideration of social determinants of maternal health into the payment model.
• Support interdisciplinary care teams that include maternity care providers, mental and behavioral health professionals, registered dietitians, and perinatal health workers - with an emphasis on providers from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and those trained on implicit bias and racism.
• Require models to consider maternal mental health conditions and substance use disorders.
• Require the Department of Health and Human Services to evaluate the project's impact on maternal health outcomes, state spending, and patient experience.

The bill is cosponsored in the House of Representatives by Reps. Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Angie Craig (MN-02), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Dwight Evans (PA-03), John Garamendi (CA-08), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Grace Meng (NY-06), Joseph Morelle (NY-25), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Brad Schneider (IL-10), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Adam Smith (WA-09), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Mark Takano (CA-39), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Norma Torres (CA-35), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Marc Veasey (TX-33), and Nikema Williams (GA-05).

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