Women should not die for want of maternity care

A recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics confirmed a tragic trend from the early days of the COVID-19 crisis: The number of women who died during or shortly after giving birth rose sharply during the pandemic’s first year.

And yet again, Black mothers were disproportionately affected, dying at a rate nearly three times that of white women. These numbers are inexcusable, but sadly not surprising.

Curtailed access to quality preand post-natal care during the pandemic was largely to blame for the spike in maternal deaths. But we also know that the steadily escalating cost of health care, driven largely by out-of-control hospital prices, is also to blame. For far too long we’ve debated the causes of, issued reports on, and promised to address this shameful inequity. Now is the time for decisive action.

At a maternal health roundtable hosted by the Coalition for Affordable Hospitals, a union-led group fighting to curtail high hospital prices, I shared that I received bills for the delivery of my baby daughter eight months after we returned home — totaling thousands of dollars.

I have a steady job and employer health coverage. Imagine the impact of these outsized bills on someone struggling with escalating housing and food costs. It’s clear that lack of affordability is worsening the maternal health crisis.

By contrast, Shaunte Turner, a SEIU32BJ member who, like me, delivered her third child not long ago, hasn’t received a single bill for the care she received during her pregnancy, or for the baby’s birth. That’s thanks to 32BJ Health Fund’s innovative maternity program, which helps mothers access high-quality, zero co-pay prenatal and hospital care.

New York needs more programs like this. But instead of embracing this model, private hospitals put up roadblocks that make expansion impossible through anti-competitive contracting practices and by refusing to bring down their prices.

Proposed state legislation, the Hospital Equity and Affordability Law (HEAL), will rein in out-of-control pricing structures that act as a barrier to affordable care, and will also help protect the Health Fund’s maternity program and hopefully help it grow. My legislative colleagues must do the right thing and pass this important bill before the session ends next month. Vulnerable mothers and babies can’t wait any longer.