Medicaid’s Crucial Role in Combating the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Crisis

The United States is in the throes of a maternal health crisis. It is the only developed country where the maternal mortality rate has been steadily rising and, for every woman who dies from pregnancy-related causes, another 70 suffer from severe maternal morbidity. Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women in the United States are 3.3 and 2.5 times, respectively, more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than non-Hispanic white women.

Medicaid has a crucial role to play in developing solutions. Nearly half of all U.S. births are financed by Medicaid, and women enrolled in Medicaid are more likely than their privately-insured counterparts to be at higher risk for poor maternal outcomes. Additionally, compared with women with private insurance at delivery, those covered by Medicaid are more likely to be Black— the women who are most affected by the crisis.

On March 11, State Health & Value Strategies (SHVS) hosted a webinar in which experts from Manatt Health explored Medicaid strategies to improve maternal health outcomes and address disparities in five key domains: coverage, enrollment, benefits, models of care, and quality improvement. This webinar shared findings from a published Manatt Health issue brief for SHVS on Medicaid’s role in combating the maternal mortality crisis.

 

 

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