NEWARK, N.J. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee that sets national health policy, today met with new and expecting mothers at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center’s Reverend Dr. Ronald B. Christian Community Health and Wellness Center to hear firsthand how they were able to receive safe, quality and affordable prenatal and neonatal care because of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). New Jersey ranks 47th in the nation in maternal deaths.

“We come together today at a time when the party that has claimed to be for ‘family values’ has thrown health care for millions of pregnant women and moms into jeopardy,” Sen. Menendez said. “While this Administration has continuously made efforts to cut coverage and undermine the ACA, I have and will continue to fight to protect it so millions of individuals, here in New Jersey and across the nation, can continue to receive the quality, affordable health care they need and deserve.”

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According to the CDC, the United States has the worst rate of maternal deaths in the developed world and one of the highest rates of infant mortality. In New Jersey, there are 37 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 20 per 100,000 nationally.

Earlier this year, Sen. Menendez, along with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) introduced the Quality Care for Moms and Babies Act of 2018, which will improve maternity care for women and newborns by holding Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) accountable through higher quality standards. Medicaid currently has a set of guidelines for pediatric and adult care but no specific standards for maternity and infant care. The legislation will also provide funding for care quality partnerships that will bring together states, health care providers, insurance companies, and other stakeholders to develop and carry out new strategies to improve maternity and infant care.

Experts joining Sen. Menendez at the roundtable were Suzanne Spernal, Administrative Director of Women’s Services Monmouth Medical Center and Dr. Patrick Andersen, Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.

In April, Sen. Menendez hosted a roundtable with health experts focused on the health challenges that uniquely impact minority women in recognition of Minority Health Month. One of the topics discussed was the significant disparity in maternal mortality rates between African American women and white women. African American women in New Jersey are five times more likely to die than white women from complications due to pregnancy.

An estimated 40 million women rely on Medicaid for health coverage and Medicaid is required to cover pregnant women. Medicaid now covers nearly half of all births in the United States and without Medicaid’s critical protections many women in America would lose access to health care. Stripping Medicaid expansion or block granting Medicaid would harm minority women the most.

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Sen. Menendez has taken strong measures to decrease the maternal mortality rate.

Sen. Menendez spearheaded the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV), which uses home visits to help at-risk pregnant women and new moms learn healthy parenting techniques and raise healthy babies.

As part of the ACA, the senator was instrumental in ensuring maternity coverage protections for women and in ending gender discrimination by insurance plans.

Sen. Menendez sponsored the Maternal Health Accountability Act of 2017 which would establish grants for states to create a maternal mortality review committee and develop plans to improve maternal health outcomes.

Sen. Menendez has also fought hard against the Republican’s many efforts to dismantle the ACA.

Since taking office, President Trump and his administration has taken a long list of actions to undermine our health care system, including proposed funding cuts to critical programs like CHIP, getting rid of the individual mandate that will knock an estimated 13 million off insurance rolls and drive up costs for the sick and elderly, slashing the ACA enrollment period in half, allowing states to impose work requirements for Medicaid recipients, and refusing to make cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurers that help lower deductibles and other out-of-pocket health care costs. These actions have resulted in 3.2 million Americans losing insurance in 2017, the largest increase since before the passage of the Affordable Care Act and skyrocketing premiums for families.