MENENDEZ, RISCH LEAD BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION TO BOLSTER U.S. EFFORTS TO SECURE TAIWAN'S MEMBERSHIP AT THE INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Press Release

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and First Lady Tammy Murphy today announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will expand Medicaid coverage for 12 months after the end of pregnancy to an estimated 8,700 individuals in New Jersey. This important step will help New Jersey to provide pregnancy-related care with the goal of preventing unnecessary postpartum-related illness and death.

"One of our aims with the American Rescue Plan was to address racial inequities in our health care system that the pandemic made worse but in truth have long plagued our country. The data is indisputable: racial bias against pregnant Black women and mothers has deadly consequences," said Sen. Menendez. "Turning around America's dismal maternal health record will demand multidimensional solutions, from better training for health providers to more investments in preventative care. But there's no question that gaps in health care coverage are a significant contributor to the problem. I am confident that this tiny provision tucked inside the American Rescue Plan will have a big and positive impact on maternal health outcomes in our state."

"Becoming a parent is among life's greatest milestones, but sadly paired with significant challenges for many in low-income communities," said HHS Secretary Becerra. "I applaud New Jersey for taking action to provide vital care for new parents and their precious babies. Expanding postpartum coverage will not only improve health outcomes among families of color-- it will save lives. The Biden-Harris Administration encourages states across the country to follow New Jersey's example to support healthy parents and infants."

"As the second state in the nation to expand Medicaid coverage for mothers for a full year after delivery, New Jersey is now another step further on our mission to become the safest and most equitable state in the nation to deliver and raise a baby," said First Lady Tammy Murphy. "This expansion was a key recommendation in the Nurture NJ Maternal and Infant Health Strategic Plan, but any mother could tell you that access to health care for a year after delivery is a commonsense, necessary, and moral imperative for any state that values healthy families. I am grateful to the Biden Administration, our federal partners, and my husband, Governor Phil Murphy, for their vision, compassion, and dedication to the mothers and babies of New Jersey."

This amendment to the New Jersey FamilyCare Comprehensive Demonstration aligns with coverage options available under the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Beginning on April 1, 2022, states will have the option to extend coverage for postpartum individuals beyond the required 60-day postpartum period through the end of the month in which a 12-month postpartum period ends.

This demonstration amendment will also ensure that the state can receive the enhanced funding for expenditures related to eligible people who remain covered through the demonstration and who would otherwise qualify for the Medicaid expansion adult group.

As part of this approval, New Jersey has agreed to undertake monitoring and evaluation of the demonstration for the extension period, in alignment with any applicable CMS-provided technical assistance.

Medicaid covers nearly one in five women of reproductive age and makes pregnancy-related care accessible for more than 40 percent of people giving birth. Currently, a third of maternal deaths occur between one week to a year after childbirth, and in New Jersey Black women are seven times more likely to die from conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth than white women.

Providing continued Medicaid and CHIP coverage helps ensure access to the ongoing care people need during the postpartum period. The continuity of coverage available through this demonstration can help postpartum people manage chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes, and provide access to behavioral health and other mental health care services.

"In a nation where nearly half of all births are covered by Medicaid and where one-third of all maternal deaths occur up to a year post-birth, expanding Medicaid postpartum coverage from the current 60 day limit to 365 days is a common sense solution whose time has come," said Sen. Cory Booker. "Since I first introduced the MOMMIES Act, I have been leading the push in the Senate to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage, including by securing a pathway in the American Rescue Plan Act for states to expand this coverage. This is especially critical for communities of color as Black and Indigenous people are significantly more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than their white peers. I applaud HHS and Governor Murphy for their leadership on this issue, and as Congress continues working on the Build Back Better Act, I remain committed to ensuring that pregnant people in every state have access to postpartum Medicaid coverage."

"Our country is facing a maternal health crisis, and it is disproportionately harming people of color," said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. "Access to postpartum care is critical to keeping our nation's families healthy. That's why CMS is proud to partner with New Jersey today to expand postpartum health coverage and advance health equity for thousands of low-income people covered by Medicaid and CHIP."

In the Senate, Sen. Menendez has been an advocate for new and expecting mothers. He lead the charge for a five-year reauthorization in 2017 of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, which provides critical services to women during pregnancy and to parents with young children. In New Jersey, all twenty-one counties are served by this program. 5,672 New Jersey families and 7,549 New Jersey children benefited from MIECHV programs in 2019.

Sen. Menendez secured a provision in the American Rescue Plan that provided an additional $150 million for staffing and servicing for MIECHV programs across the country. The provision also includes expanded flexibility for program operators to use funding to purchase technology needed for virtual home visits, and emergency supplies such as formula, food, water, hand soap and sanitizer, diapers, and prepaid grocery cards.

He also introduced the Tech to Save Moms Act to close the digital divide in health care and address racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health outcomes.

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