Last week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., threw his support behind U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s, D-Ga., “Improving Coordination for Healthy Moms Act.”
The bill will “strengthen the federal government’s efforts to improve maternal health outcomes across the nation” and “direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to combine and coordinate efforts between two existing federal entities, the Department’s ‘Healthy People Maternal, Infant, and Child Health Workgroup’ and its ‘Maternal Health Working Group,’ to obtain more efficient data and optimize resources across the working groups to more efficiently address the nation’s maternal mortality and morbidity health crisis.”
The senators pointed to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released in April on maternal mortality in rural and underserved areas which found the two HHS groups often covered the same areas.
“It’s time for the United States to address the alarming rates of maternal mortality and morbidity impacting the diverse communities across our nation,” Rubio said. “This is a common-sense bill that will streamline federal efforts to improve maternal and infant health, and I will work to make sure it becomes law.”
“We must all work together if we’re going to solve the nation’s maternal health crisis, and Democrats and Republicans agree that helping ensure mothers and babies are healthy and whole keeps our families strong and helps our communities thrive,” Warnock said. “I’m proud to introduce this bill with Senator Rubio that will help the federal government streamline efforts to improve maternal health outcomes across our country. No woman should fear losing her life from pregnancy or childbirth.
The bill was sent to the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee last week. So far, there is no companion bill in the U.S. House.
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