Closing Gaps in Maternal Mental Healthcare
The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health is a national think tank, nonprofit organization advancing policies that support a health care system that routinely detects and treats maternal mental health disorders for every mother, every time.
CMS issues Proposed Rule to Integrate Equity and Maternal Health Quality Measures into Payment for Hospitals
On April 19, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule (aka regulation) to expand on key priorities of advancing maternal health and health equity in maternal health care.
Read MoreDuring 2020 Mom’s recent Maternal Mental Health FORUM, one panel discussion was focused on “Closing Racial Disparity Gaps Through Policy Solutions.” The panel was moderated by U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL), who co-chairs the Congressional Black Maternal Health Caucus and is leading the Black Maternal Health Momnibus in the House of Representatives.
Panel speakers included:
Anna Benyo, MPP, Senior Program Officer, Center for Health Care Strategies
Amy Chen, Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program
On March 28, the Biden-Harris Administration submitted to Congress the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2023 (FY23). Although this budget document is non-binding, it does represent key policy and programmatic priorities from the Administration.
Below are highlights from the President’s Budget that show meaningful investments in maternal health across federal government agencies. 2020 Mom will continue to track the progress of these programs as Congress advances their FY23 appropriations bills.
Read MoreOn March 30, 2022, the Senate Finance Committee, led by Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID), held a hearing titled, “Behavioral Health Care When Americans Need It: Ensuring Parity and Care Integration.”
Read MoreOn April 1, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the new option for states to extend Medicaid and CHIP coverage for a full 12 months postpartum. This extension is now in effect for those in the postpartum period. In states that have elected to extend the funding, mothers who otherwise would not be eligible for Medicaid outside of pregnancy will now receive 12 months of health care coverage.
Read MoreHere’s what you need to know about the federal budget and maternal mental health.
Last week, federal lawmakers in the House and Senate passed their overdue fiscal year (FY) 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021-Sept. 30, 2022) spending package, and President Biden signed it into law. Notably, because a significant portion of healthcare funds were diverted to support Ukraine, funding levels for many mental health and maternal health programs were lower than expected based on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees’ proposals.
Read MoreRecently, the U.S. Departments of the Treasury, Labor (DOL), and Health and Human Services (HHS) released their 2022 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) Report to Congress.
This report indicates that health insurers are failing to deliver parity for mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) coverage for their beneficiaries.
Read MoreOn November 19, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed The Build Back Better Act (BBB) (H.R. 5376), which, in addition to including the Moms Matter Act (H.R. 909/S. 484), includes historic provisions investing in child care and early learning for our nation’s children. Higher quality and more affordable child care is crucial for mothers, as it reduces anxiety about children’s wellbeing as well as financial stressors.
Read More2020 Mom is committed to advancing federal policies that improve maternal mental health. Through our federal policy development and advocacy efforts, we have made great strides in the past year.
Read MoreOn December 7th, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted the first-ever White House Maternal Health Day of Action. The Day of Action included a Summit that was composed of three panels, as well as a Call to Action, outlining steps the federal government will take to improve maternal health outcomes.
Read MoreOver the past two months, several U.S. Senate offices have released requests for information (RFIs), seeking input from stakeholder groups about how to address mental health and addiction issues in the U.S. Specifically, the following Senators requested comments from stakeholders:
Read MoreThe Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-34) was the inception of the child tax credit (CTC), which was created to ease the financial burden to families with children. Over the years, the CTC has expanded from an upper- and middle-class benefit, to a tax benefit that lower-income families can claim. The CTC allows taxpayers to reduce their federal income liability up to $2,000 per child aged 0-16 years of age. In the event the value of the credit exceeds the amount of tax a family owes, the family may be eligible to receive a full or partial refund of the difference.
Read MoreLast week, the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act, a $1.75 trillion legislative package that aims to address social welfare. It will be considered by the Senate in the weeks ahead. In addition to critical maternal mental health legislation included in the package, several other provisions that impact moms are currently included in the package as well:
Read MoreOver the weekend, the House of Representatives passed a key procedural vote to set up eventual passage of the Build Back Better Act, a legislative package that includes several social safety net provisions, including provisions from the Moms Matter Act. This is an exciting development as the Moms Matter Act gets closer to the finish line.
Read MoreJoy Burkhard’s Opening Remarks
Hello. Thank you to the Alliance, Health Affairs, the funders, and Members of Congress who have taken leadership positions on maternal mental health, recognizing this is a bi-partisan issue that no U.S. woman or family is immune from.
Read MoreIt is well documented that pregnancy loss has a negative impact on maternal health, with increased depression and anxiety following a loss (Nynas et al, 2015; Farren et al, 2021; Neugebauer et al, 1997). It is important that mothers and their partners are given time to process and heal after experiencing a miscarriage, stillbirth, or unsuccessful adoption/surrogacy.
Read MoreOn October 18, 2021, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Patrick Leahy (D-VT), released nine fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS) bill. Similar to the House Appropriations Committee, which passed their L-HHS funding bill over the summer, the Senate Appropriations Committee recommends increased funding for several mental health, maternal health, substance use, and other public health programs.
Read MoreLast week, the Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act (H.R.5487) was introduced by Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill aims to prevent stillbirth through better research and reporting on the topic. Specifically, the bill would:
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