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Black women are twice as likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than women in other racial groups, according to a 2022 joint report from the State Department of Health Services and Maternal Mortality Morbidity task force. The researchers concluded that many of those deaths could have been prevented through access to proper medical care.
Texas House Representative Toni Rose, District 110, with a district office in Oak Cliff, is sponsoring House Bill 12, which seeks to address the issue through legislation that would extend the period of post-pregnancy Medicaid coverage in Texas from two months to a year, according to a press release from her office.
A story on NPR this week revealed that more than 471,000 pregnant Texans “are currently navigating the fragmented, bureaucratic Medicaid system to find care. Medicaid provides coverage for about half of all births in the state — but the coverage is so paltry that many people lose eligibility not long after giving birth.”
Rep. Toni Rose
Texas is one of 11 states that opted not to expand Medicaid to uninsured adults. That means Medicare is not available to adults who are not pregnant and it leaves more than 770,000 Texans in a coverage gap, NPR reports — “they don’t have any job-based insurance, nor do they qualify for subsidized coverage on HealthCare.gov, the federal insurance marketplace. In 2022, 23% of women between the ages of 19-64 were uninsured in Texas.
Pregnancy-related Medicaid in Texas is available to women who make less than $2,243 a month. It covers prenatal visits lasts through pregnancy and two months after giving birth.
The bill’s author Rep. Rose was elected in 2012 to represent an area that includes communities in Oak Cliff, Pleasant Grove and Balch Springs. Her legislative focus, according to her bio, includes mental health reform, access to affordable healthcare and criminal justice reform.
