Wednesday, during an Energy and Commerce Committee markup, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River), the Republican Leader of the committee, helped advance legislation he co-sponsored that would improve maternal healthcare.
Walden released a joint statement with the Republican Leader of the Health Subcommittee, Dr. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), on the committee passage of the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2019 and the Helping Medicaid Offer Maternity Services (MOMS) Act of 2019:
“These bipartisan bills further this committee’s mission to address maternal mortality and improve the health outcomes in expectant or new mothers. Last Congress, President Trump signed bipartisan legislation into law from this Committee to advance maternal health, and we are building on that progress today.
“We are moving forward with legislation to improve rural access to maternal health services, strengthen America’s maternal health care workforce, and enhance coverage for pregnant and postpartum women in the Medicaid and SCHIP programs.
“We look forward to moving these bills through the House, and commend our colleagues for their commitment to working across the aisle on this critical issue,” said Walden and Burgess.
“Even though there has been extensive innovation in health care and improvements in technology, recent reports have indicated an increase in the number of women that are dying due to pregnancy complications,” said the press release.
The bills passed out of committee build on the progress made under Walden’s leadership last Congress, which included President Trump signing the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act into law that improves data collection and reporting around maternal mortality and develops systems at all levels of government in order to better understand the burden of maternal complication, said the press release.
The bills will now be sent to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
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