Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019 (H.R. 4995). This important bill includes my legislation, the Excellence in Maternal Health Act of 2019 (H.R. 4215), that I introduced last year with my fellow Hoosier, Rep. Bucshon. l want to thank Rep. Engel for including my legislation in this package. I urge my House colleagues to pass H.R. 4995 without delay.

Maternal mortality--which occurs when a woman dies during pregnancy or within one year of delivery--is a nationwide, public health emergency. The United States has the highest maternal death rate in the developed world; 26 women die for every 100,000 live birth in our country. This unacceptably high level of maternal mortality robs our country of between 700 and 900 women from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

However, this crisis does not affect all states equally. Maternal mortality is especially devastating in states like Indiana. Our state has the third highest maternal mortality rate in the country where, often due to preventable complications, a staggering 43 out of 100,000 women die during or shortly after giving birth.

The maternal mortality crisis also does not affect all mothers equally; in fact, the racial and ethnic disparities in maternal mortality are extremely stark. Nationwide, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from maternal health complications than white women. In Indiana, Black women are 29 percent more likely to die during childbirth than white women, as 53 black women die per 100,000 live births versus 41 deaths among white women. Research consistently shows that disparities in access to quality health care, inadequate health care training, discrimination and bias, and the lack of high-quality integrated maternal health care continue to compound existing health care disparities that produce the disproportionate levels of maternal mortality among Black mothers.

That's why in August 2019, I introduced the Excellence in Maternal Health Act of 2019 with my fellow Hoosier, Rep. Bucshon. Our bipartisan legislation works to improve maternal health access and quality, reduce racial and ethnic disparities and discrimination in health care delivery, and create grant programs to implement best practices and strengthen training for health care providers.

Specifically, our legislation provides $10 million to help develop and enact best practices to eliminate maternal morality through improved maternal health access and quality. Additionally, our legislation provides $25 million over five years to establish a grant program to train health care professionals on ways to reduce and prevent racial discrimination in providing prenatal care, labor care, birthing, and postpartum care. Finally, our legislation provides $15 million in grants to help states deliver integrated health care services that reduce maternal mortality and related health disparities.

I was pleased that in November 2019, the House Energy and Commerce Committee included our Carson/Bucshon legislation into Rep. Engel's larger legislative package, the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019 and was unanimously approved by the Committee. I urge all of my House colleagues to now pass H.R. 4995 to implement the programs and reforms in my legislation that will help end the scourge of preventable maternal mortality in our country and ensure the birth of a child is a joyous and safe occasion for families across America.

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