Hearing on impact of racial disparities, social determinants on maternal mortality

The House Ways and Means Committee today held a hearing examining the impact of racial disparities and social determinants of health on maternal mortality.
 
In a statement submitted for the record, AHA highlighted what hospitals and health systems are doing in their communities to address these factors and improve maternal outcomes, a top priority for the association and its members. This includes the AHA’s Better Health for Mothers and Babies initiative, which features resources focused on the field’s ongoing work to improve maternal health.
 
In opening remarks at the hearing, Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass, said, “A tremendous amount of research across the country can help us combat this problem.”
 
Testifying at the hearing were Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R- Wash.
 
Herrera Beutler’s Preventing Maternal Deaths Act, supported by the AHA and signed into law last year, provides funding for states and other entities to develop maternal mortality review committees to better understand maternal complications and identify solutions. The AHA also supports provisions of Kelly’s recently introduced Mothers and Offspring Mortality and Morbidity Awareness Act (H.R. 1897) that would improve state maternal mortality data, provide funding to promote safety practices and cultural competency and extend health coverage and services for low-income postpartum women.
 
Also testifying at the hearing were Olympian Allyson Felix and representatives from the Virginia and Pennsylvania departments of health, Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, American Medical Association and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.