Singer Bill to Ensure Healthcare for Mothers After Birth Advances

Legislation Expands Medicaid Access to Eligible Women

Senator Robert Singer’s legislation to ensure mothers in need have access to health care for six months after their pregnancy advanced in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

“New Jersey’s high maternal illness and death toll are disturbing, particularly for African American mothers,” said Singer (R-30). “We must take action to fix this deadly crisis. Expanding access to proper medical care during and after pregnancy will reduce preventable deaths and ensure more New Jersey mothers and babies leave the hospital happy and healthy.”

Singer’s bipartisan legislation, S-3374, would expand postnatal coverage to a sixth month period after birth for eligible women on Medicaid.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of deaths of new mothers in the weeks and months following pregnancy are steadily increasing in the United States. Similar bipartisan legislation has been proposed in Texas.

Sen. Singer has been a longtime advocate of improving maternal care in the Garden State. In 2017 his resolution to create an annual “Maternal Health Awareness Day” in New Jersey was signed into law.

“In developed countries like the United States, pregnancy shouldn’t be a matter of life or death,” Singer added. “I will continue to fight to improve maternal health throughout New Jersey, and to secure quality care for all women and families.”