Engel Health Bills Pass Energy and Commerce Committee

Press Release

Congressman Eliot L. Engel today commended the House Energy and Commerce Committee's passage of two pieces of key public health legislation--one he authored and one he amended--that address the maternal health crisis and the teen vaping epidemic.

The Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act, authored by Congressman Engel, provides additional funding and guidance to help reduce the growing maternal mortality and morbidity rate in the United States. It would also help reduce discrimination practices in the delivery of maternal health care. The Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act contains provisions added by Congressman Engel, which would revise existing public health education awareness campaigns on tobacco to ensure they include programming for individuals between the ages of 18 and 21. Both bills passed the Energy and Commerce Committee with bipartisan support.

"As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I feel it's my duty to stand at the forefront of addressing the maternal health crisis and the teen vaping epidemic," Engel said. "Both of these epidemics have claimed too many lives in New York and across the country. My legislation will improve federal efforts to help Americans live healthier, safer lives."

The Engel authored Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act creates and improves existing federal health programs to address the ongoing maternal health crisis in the United States, which claims 700 mothers each year. More specifically, this bipartisan bill would:

Award medical and nursing schools $5 million annually to provide courses on reducing and preventing discrimination, including implicit bias training, in the delivery of maternal health care.
Direct the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a study and make recommendations for creating health care provider training programs that reduce and prevent discrimination in the delivery of maternal health care.
Provide $65 million annually for Perinatal Quality Collaboratives, which bring together nurses, midwives, and doctors to address the underlying causes of maternal mortality and morbidity.
H.R. 4995 the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act has been endorsed by the American Hospital Association, March of Dimes, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association.

Source