Healthcare Reform - Fix Maternal Mortality

February 24, 2023

Feb 24, 2023

Good Day Healthcare Advocates

I am so thankful for all of you and for the actions you take to move us towards a universal healthcare system. Some of the topics in work are:

The current state of healthcare providers and the potential impact of Universal Healthcare on them
How Universal Healthcare affects the insurance industry (it’s not what you think)
Rural healthcare challenges
Hospice Fraud revisited - this is worse than was reported

Please send topics to me via the chat button and I will research and report. If you need assistance in other ways, lectures, presentations, etc. Just let me know, I’m happy to help.

Current State - Maternal Mortality On The Rise

Maternal Mortality is a measure of how well your healthcare system works. It is the number of women that die during pregnancy or within a year of delivering per 100,000 live births. That number is again on the rise in the US. In 2020, worldwide it was 233/100,000 or about 287,000 women dying. In the US the number is about 23.8 deaths/100,000 live births or 861 deaths. In 2018 it was just 17.1!! It is far worse if you are not white. Black women die at the rate of 55.3/100,000 and Hispanic women at the rate of 158/100,000. Here is the CDC data

Women have a lot of problems with healthcare in the US. One of the problems is that doctors are not always good listeners to women. Another is that the symptoms women exhibit for many issues are different from symptoms men experience and so the doctor may not be familiar. The worst is when there is no one to help.

The March of Dimes found that 36% of US counties are maternity care deserts. That is no hospital, birth center with obstetric care or they are without obstetric providers. Moreover, almost half of all US counties have no obstetric provider. Many of these are rural areas and many of the women are poor and almost none of them have to die.

In many countries communities get together and hire a doctor to live in the community to keep them as healthy as possible. This was common in pre-war Japan and many other places. The community often provided a house and many other benefits to make sure the doctor wanted to be there.

A bill was presented in the 117th Congress called the Momnibus bill. If you want to read it is here. Here is a partial quote

“The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other specified departments must address the social determinants of maternal health, which include child care, housing, food security, transportation, and environmental conditions.

The bill also extends to 24 months postpartum eligibility for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Additionally, HHS and other agencies must take actions to grow and diversify the maternal health workforce.”

See it there - Work on the social determinants of health. Didn’t we discuss that this week when we talked about health care providers being demoralized and 300,000 leaving their jobs in one year? What a coincidence.

What we need to do is bring caregivers into the profession and place them where they are needed. That’s doctors, nurses, assistants, mid-wives (doulas) who can help during pregnancy and for those critical times after the baby arrives.

.And while we’re at it make sure there is enough to eat for that mother and baby.

Expand the workforce, try new things, make healthcare available to save lives. Of course, if you examine the Universal Healthcare bills in Congress you’ll find similar language.

If you do nothing, nothing changes. Do something!

What You Can Do

Use RESISTBOT to send a message to the President and your elected representatives to fix maternal mortality.

Text “SIGN PKEALZ” to 50409 to send them the following email.

The March of Dimes just reported that maternal mortality is on the rise. In the US in 2020 it was almost 24 deaths/100,000 live births for the general population and triple that for Black Women and 6.6 times that for Hispanic women. It is unacceptable that so many women have to die needlessly. 36% of all US counties are maternity care deserts and almost 50% have no obstetric care!!

Until we have universal health care that addresses all of this I want you to pass legislation like the 117th Congress’s Momnibus bill that will train and place maternal care providers in rural and poor areas to help these women and children live. You can save lives by taking action. TAKE ACTION.