Sen. Brown Reintroduces Bill to Ensure Pregnant Mothers Can Access Affordable Health Care During and After Pregnancy

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 -- Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, issued the following news release:

As Americans are making decisions about health insurance enrollment, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), led his Senate colleagues in reintroducing legislation to expand healthcare options for expectant mothers. Brown's bill, the Healthy Maternal and Obstetric Medicine (Healthy MOM) Act, would ensure that all people eligible for coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance marketplaces, as well as those eligible for other individual or group health plan coverage, can access affordable health coverage throughout their pregnancies. The bill would do this by establishing a special enrollment period (SEP) for expectant mothers. Right now, marriage, divorce, having a baby, adoption and changing jobs are considered qualifying life events that trigger a special enrollment period. However, becoming pregnant is not considered a qualifying event.

Research has widely shown that prenatal care leads to healthier mothers and babies, and such care comes with the burden of high out-of-pocket costs without access to the appropriate health insurance. The Healthy MOM Act will allow pregnant people to sign up for or change their coverage when they become pregnant, rather than needing to wait for the birth of their child or the annual enrollment period. The bill would also guarantee 12 months of postpartum continuous Medicaid coverage, thus removing key barriers that often prevent mothers from getting the care they need after birth.

"No mother-to-be should ever have to worry about how they will get the healthcare they need to keep themselves and their baby healthy during pregnancy and post-partum," said Brown. "Improving access to quality care is essential to addressing our nation's maternal mortality crisis - one that overwhelmingly impacts Black mothers. This legislation will help expand coverage options for pregnant mothers so that they can access the care that best meets their needs."

"The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is pleased to endorse the Healthy Maternal and Obstetric Medicine (Healthy MOM) Act," said ACNM CEO Katrina Holland. "As providers of pregnancy-related care for women and gender-diverse people, this critical legislation would ensure that all people midwives serve have access to the full-spectrum of maternal health services, including prenatal care and postpartum coverage. ACNM maintains that health care is a fundamental human right and supports the development of a system that enables individuals and their families to receive appropriate care based on need, regardless of their ability to pay or their socioeconomic status, age, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender identification, or sexual orientation."

"The Healthy MOM Act creates the necessary foundation for improving maternal health in the U.S. by ensuring that pregnant and postpartum individuals have access to comprehensive and affordable health insurance coverage," said Terrance E. Moore, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs. "For too long, the ACA marketplaces have not recognized pregnancy as a qualifying life event for enrollment in a health care plan. The Healthy MOM Act enables a pregnant person to sign up for or change health insurance plans outside of the open enrollment period in the same way that a person who gets married or changes jobs can. Further, by making 12 months of postpartum coverage the national standard for Medicaid and CHIP, the bill eliminates the emerging patchwork approach where some new moms still lose health insurance at just 60 days postpartum. As a national organization representing state leaders in public health dedicated to improving maternal and child health, AMCHP is proud to endorse the Healthy MOM Act and grateful to Sen. Brown and Rep. Watson Coleman for their ongoing leadership on this critically important legislation."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 700 women die each year in the United States from pregnancy-related complications. Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women are about three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related causes than white women. The Healthy MOM Act will work to improve these outcomes by expanding quality access to care, which data demonstrate could help prevent three in five pregnancy related deaths.

Specifically, the Healthy MOM Act would:

* Create a special enrollment period (SEP) in the ACA marketplaces and other commercial insurance plans for pregnant individuals once pregnancy is reported, so that they can enroll in or change their healthcare plan;

* * Clarifies coverage requirements related to coverage of maternity care for dependent children;

* * Creates a pregnancy SEP for federal employees;

* * Codifies a continuation of Medicaid income eligibility for pregnant individuals and children;

* Enable the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to establish a special enrollment period for pregnancy, for those eligible to receive coverage through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and clarify that the enrollment shall be available for families even during a lapse in appropriation or government shutdown;

* Ensure comprehensive coverage of maternity care - including labor and delivery - for dependent children covered by group health plans and other forms of employer-sponsored coverage;

* Protect against threats to Medicaid income eligibility and maintain the highest standard of care for low-income pregnant individuals and infants, and

* Requires states to provide 12 months of continuous Medicaid eligibility for postpartum individuals

The Healthy MOM Act is co-sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Tina Smith (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bob Casey (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Angus King (I-ME), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

The Healthy MOM Act is endorsed by the Society for Maternal and Fetal Medicine, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Planned Parenthood Federation of America, MomsRising, NARAL, Black Mammas Matter Alliance, American College of Nurse Midwives, March of Dimes, Advocates for Youth, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP), and National Partnership for Women & Families

The text of Brown's legislation can be found here: https://www.brown.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/healthy_mom_bill_text_21.pdf