Washington, D.C. - Today, Representatives Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Terri Sewell (D-AL) joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jon Tester (D-MT) in introducing the Improving Access to Maternal Health for Military and Dependent Moms Act to ensure service members and their spouses are able to receive proper and sufficient maternity services.
“I am proud to lead the Improving Access to Maternal Health for Military and Dependent Moms Act to ensure our service members and their families have adequate, available, and local prenatal and postnatal care. Our service members and their families endure many hardships, ensuring accessible maternal healthcare should not be one of them,” said Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. “As a mom, it is despicable to read reports of expecting mothers being turned away from hospitals on military installations due to a shortage in full-service medical staff. Service members and their families selflessly serve our nation and it is our responsibility to take care of them and their families during the most important moments of their lives.”
“Ensuring the well-being of our military families means addressing the unique challenges mothers face while they, or their spouses, serve in the military. The Improving Access to Maternal Health for Military and Dependent Moms Act is a crucial step towards understanding and overcoming the obstacles to maternal health care within the Military Health System,” said Senator Marco Rubio.
“Our service members and their families deserve access to reliable and quality health care all the time, and that includes maternity services. To better serve our expecting service members and their spouses, we need to better understand the challenges they face while attempting to access care. I’m proud to co-lead this bill which will continue to improve maternal health care for the very families who protect our nation,” said Congresswoman Terri Sewell.
“It’s critically important that mothers who are veterans, military spouses, or currently serving this country have access to quality, affordable health care. Our bill will help make sure female service members and military spouses can access the same care as civilians through TRICARE, and ensure we live up to the promises we make to them when they sign up to serve our nation,” said Senator Jon Tester.
Currently, there are instances when military treatment facilities (MTF) do not provide prenatal or postnatal care, forcing service members and their spouses to look off base. Often when installations are in rural areas this forces service members and their spouses to have to travel long distances to receive maternal care. Additionally, the maternal health patient satisfaction of service members and their spouses has been decreasing over the last few years and is much lower than patient satisfaction of other healthcare procedures.
The Improving Access to Maternal Health for Military and Dependent Moms Act would require DoD to submit a report to Congress, no later than two years after enactment, that includes the following data points in relation to service members and dependents over the previous two-year period:
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An analysis of the availability of maternal healthcare within the TRICARE program network;
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Identification of staffing shortages in positions relating to pregnancy and childbirth, including obstetricians, midwives, labor and delivery nurses, and OBGYN;
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Description of challenges faced by beneficiaries in accessing maternal healthcare within the MHS;
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Analysis of timeliness of access to maternal healthcare, including wait times for appointments;
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Information on how MHS tracks patient satisfaction with these services;
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The number of dependents who chose to access maternal healthcare through providers outside of MTFs;
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Process to establish continuity of maternal healthcare for beneficiaries who experience a PCS during a pregnancy, and identification of barriers with regards to continuity of care during PCS;
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The amount of funds annually expended for the past 10 years by DoD on maternal healthcare and by beneficiaries on out-of-pocket costs associated with maternal healthcare;
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Military-specific health challenges impacting pregnant beneficiaries; and
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Recommendations and legislative proposals to:
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Address staffing shortages;
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Improve delivery and availability of maternal health services through MHS and improve patient experience; and
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Improve continuity of care for covered individuals during PCS.
Read the full text of the bill HERE.
