Understanding the Connected MOM Act: Federal Intervention in State Maternal Health Medicaid Coverage
Introduction to Medicaid and Maternal Health Coverage Medicaid is a healthcare program designed to cover specific medical costs for individuals with lower incomes and limited resources. While the federal government sets baseline regulations and retains oversight authority over Medicaid programs, states maintain primary responsibility for program administration, which leads to variation in Medicaid coverage across […]
Maternal Mortality Review Committees and the PMDR Reauthorization of 2023: Key Perspectives
Introduction The United States faces a maternal mortality crisis, with maternal death rates significantly higher than other high-income nations. According to the CDC, maternal mortality disproportionately affects Black, Indigenous, and rural communities, with Black women experiencing maternal deaths at 2.6 times the rate of White women. The factors contributing to these disparities are complex and […]
Understanding Chronic Disease Management Programs: Comparing New York and Georgia
Background Information In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), expanded Medicaid coverage for people from low-income backgrounds who were previously uninsured due to Medicaid’s previous eligibility requirements. The Medicaid expansion addressed a phenomenon known as the coverage gap, which occurs when an individual’s income is too high to qualify for their state’s Medicaid program but […]
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Confirmed as HHS Secretary: Can He “Make America Healthy Again”?
As President Trump continues his push to reshape the federal government, one of his most controversial cabinet nominations has now been confirmed. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., once a Democratic challenger to Joe Biden, then an independent presidential candidate, and now a Trump ally, was officially sworn in as the 26th Secretary of the Department of […]
Understanding Midwife and Doula Healthcare Integration
Background In the U.S. today, Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during childbirth as White women. One potential remedy to address this and other disparities in maternal health outcomes, which has gained recent attention, is the integration of midwives and doulas into the U.S. healthcare system. Doulas are trained professionals who […]
Understanding the Accountability for Overprescription Debate
Background: The Opioid Epidemic Over the past two decades, the opioid epidemic has emerged as a key public health issue in the United States. The first wave of the epidemic was characterized by an increase in opioid prescriptions in the late 1990s paired with marketing from pharmaceutical companies that ensured that opioids were safe for […]
The Pros and Cons of the Black Maternal Momnibus Act
Background on Black Maternal Health The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that Black women are over three times more likely to die during or after childbirth than white women, often facing life-threatening complications from early pregnancy to postpartum. Unfair treatment and lower quality of care contribute to these disparities, with more than […]
The Pros and Cons of the Honor Our Living Donors Act
Introduction to Organ Donation As of September 2024, more than 100,000 individuals nationwide were on the waiting list for organ transplants. Despite the fact that over 46,000 organ transplants were performed in the U.S. last year, thousands of Americans still die annually waiting for a new organ. While some believe financial incentives for living donors […]
Pros and Cons of the SUPPORT Act of 2018
Background The opioid epidemic has emerged as a major public health issue in the United States. Beginning with a surge in opioid prescription in the 1990s and followed by waves of addiction to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, the crisis has grown and morphed since its inception. Since 1999, there have been more than 600,000 […]
Medicare-For-All Act 2023: Pros and Cons
Introduction Today, health insurance in America is decentralized. Private insurance companies—composed of employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) and the non-group market—make up 54.8% of health insurance coverage nationwide, while government-issued programs like Medicare and Medicaid cover 35.9% of the population. Private health insurance options operate as follows: Still, 7.9% of Americans, or roughly 26 million people, […]