Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act of 2023
Floor Speech
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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3838) to amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize Federal support of States in their work to save and sustain the health of mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, to eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes for pregnancy-related and pregnancy-associated deaths, to identify solutions to improve healthcare quality and health outcomes for mothers, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 3838
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act of 2023''. SEC. 2. SAFE MOTHERHOOD.
(a) Maternal Mortality Review Committees.--Section 317K(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-12(d)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ``(including obstetricians and gynecologists)'' after ``clinical specialties''; and
(2) in paragraph (3)(A)(i)--
(A) in subclause (I), by striking ``as applicable'' and inserting ``if available''; and
(B) in subclause (III), by striking ``, as appropriate'' and inserting ``and coordinating with death certifiers to improve the collection of death record reports and the quality of death records, including by amending cause-of- death information on a death certificate, as appropriate''.
(b) Best Practices Relating to the Prevention of Maternal Mortality.--Section 317K of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-12) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
``(e) Best Practices Relating to the Prevention of Maternal Mortality.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall, in consultation with the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, disseminate to hospitals, State professional society groups, and perinatal quality collaboratives, best practices on how to prevent maternal mortality and morbidity that consider and reflect best practices identified through other relevant Federal maternal health programs.
``(2) Frequency.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall disseminate the best practices referred to in paragraph (1) not less than once per fiscal year.''.
(c) Extension.--Subsection (g) of section 317K of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-12), as redesignated by subsection (b), is amended by striking ``$58,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023'' and inserting ``$108,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028''.
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Mr. BURGESS.
I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 3838, the Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act of 2023.
During March, we celebrate National Women's History Month and honor the strong women in our lives, especially our mothers who make great sacrifices to bring life into this world.
According to the latest United States data, the maternal mortality rate rose yet again in 2021 to almost 33 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to a rate of 23 per 100,000 in 2020. While we know that over 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, we also understand that even one is too many.
The Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act works to understand and reduce maternal mortalities by reauthorizing Federal support for State-led Maternal Mortality Review Committees.
Maternal Mortality Review Committees are multidisciplinary committees that review the causes of maternal deaths in their State and make recommendations based on their findings to prevent future deaths and improve maternal health outcomes during pregnancy, childbirth, and the first year afterward.
H.R. 3838 also requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work in consultation with the Health Resources and Services Administration to disseminate best practices for the prevention of maternal mortality and morbidity to hospitals and other healthcare providers.
Maternal Mortality Review Committees are vital to understanding the drivers of maternal deaths and informing effective interventions. This way we will help to ensure that resources are directed where they will have the most positive impact.
Since its initial authorization in 2018, we have already seen the work of the Maternal Mortality Review Committees make a significant difference and increasing the number of Maternal Mortality Review Committees from 32 States to 49 States, the District of Columbia, New York City, Philadelphia, and Puerto Rico.
Through their work, this body was able to discover that over 50 percent of pregnancy-related deaths happen between 1 week and 1 year after delivery, leading to the critical extension of the State plan amendment for Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program to 12 months for postpartum coverage.
The critical importance of this bill is furthered by the news from my home State of Texas just last week. Effective March 1 of 2024, Texas extended postpartum coverage for the full 12 months for eligible Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program recipients through the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. I thank Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas legislature for their continued efforts to protect and defend life, especially the lives of new mothers and newborn babies.
Today, I am joined by 740 of my fellow OB/GYNs who are on the Hill with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists urging a ``yes'' vote on this critically important bill.
I thank my fellow Representatives, Diana DeGette, Buddy Carter, Robin Kelly, Kat Cammack, and Kathy Castor for working with me on this important legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I stand in strong support of H.R. 3838. I urge my fellow Members to vote for its passage today, and I reserve the balance of my time.
I do want to point out in this bill, probably one of the most important aspects is the collection and dissemination of data by the CDC and HRSA, the best practices that occur across the country. There is no reason why one hospital should have excellent statistics and another hospital have questionable statistics. We should be able to be good enough that every hospital has excellent statistics.
I know this to be true, because where I did my residency at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, they have consistently had some of the best maternal mortality statistics in the country, and they take care of a population that is low income, women of color, underinsured, uninsured, the very populations you think would be at greatest risk.
I know we can do it. I have seen it done, and it is so important to me that we collect and disseminate this data.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is personally important to me. My grandfather, who I never knew, my father's father, was an academic obstetrician at McGill Hospital in Montreal from the end of the World War I until his death in 1939.
During that time, maternal mortality was substantially reduced. The caregivers of that time, prior to the introduction of antibiotics, made great strides in reducing maternal mortality. Some of that was through the imposition of preventive medicine. Some of that was because of improved anesthesia and blood bank techniques. Of course, with the introduction of antibiotics in 1940, the rates came down even substantially more. We know it can be done.
At that time the major drivers of maternal mortality were hypertension, hemorrhage, and infection. Now, the major drivers are well after delivery, and they fall into the realm of cardiovascular disease, suicide, and drug overdose. This expansion of postpartum coverage to the first year after delivery was really work that was established in our committee. We did the research on that, and we provided the guidance that now has been taken up by a great many States.
I look forward to a day when we see these numbers are significantly reduced even over where they are now because of the changes that we have made as a result of this legislation. It is important work.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the underlying bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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