State’s maternal mortality rate: disgraceful
Arkansas has the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States: 8.6, which far exceeds the national average of 5.4.
It’s one of several shocking statistics regarding maternal health and birth here. Consider, too, that Arkansas received an F from the March of Dimes as it pertains to preterm birth. According to its report, preterm babies born to Black birthing people is 1.5 times higher than the rate among all other babies.
These public health issues should have rallied considerable state support. Yet Gov. Sarah Sanders recently announced that Arkansas would not expand postpartum Medicaid from 60 days to 12 months as permitted by the 2021 American Rescue Plan.
Instead, Sanders said mothers should find coverage elsewhere, including the private marketplace.
The governor could have helped these women by opting into Medicaid expansion. She chose not to, and in doing so she ignored one of the most important recommendations of the Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
Her message to low-income postpartum mothers in Arkansas: “Let them eat cake.”
I have contended in these pages that Governor Sanders’ assault on education and intellectualism is the result of a deeply cynical world view towards people and progress, personified by Trump-era insecurity and insincerity to which she played a significant role. Until now, however, I did not imagine her to be as cruel as her political consiliarius Donald Trump.
I was wrong.
Scholars and non-partisan policy advocates have demonstrated that expanding Medicaid coverage will reduce maternal mortality. In this era of Medicaid expansion, states that have embraced the opportunities afforded by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the American Rescue Act have seen the rate of maternal mortality slow at a more rapid rate.
Between 2018 and 2020, 92 percent of pregnancy-related deaths were considered potentially preventable, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Far too many women who become pregnant in Arkansas experience hypertensive disorders; sufficient prenatal care remains a considerable problem because of barriers to access.
Today, 37 of Arkansas’ 75 counties are “maternity deserts” which do not offer obstetric care. This too is a crisis to which the governor turns a blind eye. Not one bill in the most recent legislative session, rife with silly bills intended to further divide, alienate, and fuel animosity between people, was aimed at alleviating it.
One area where this problem can be mitigated is through telehealth services. This requires the expansion of rural broadband. In Arkansas, rural broadband expansion is happening at a record rate as a result of President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which every member of Arkansas’ congressional delegation opposed.
Additionally, expanding Medicaid would also help address the monumental problem of maternity deserts. Medicaid covers nearly half of births in those areas, a significantly higher percentage than those with full access to obstetric care.
Soon, 46 states across the country will have expanded Medicaid to support postpartum coverage. None of those states ranks first in the nation in maternal mortality. Arkansas does. Yet our governor, when given the opportunity to marry sound public policy with compassion and morality, chose not to act.
That is not leadership. It is consistent with an unserious administration that cares more about waging culture wars that result in national media exposure rather than solving serious problems, especially for people who need support from their government the most.
I am reminded of the Gospel of Matthew: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Consider what Gavin Lesnick, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, said when noting that 68 percent of postpartum deaths occur within 40 days of birth. “It is likely that extending postpartum coverage to 12 months would not be as impactful as focusing on prenatal and postpartum care.” What about the remaining 32 percent? Are their lives not worth saving?
Governor Sanders’ willful disregard for the least among us defies public responsibility and human dignity. Her decision to ignore the pressing problem of maternal mortality is rooted in cruelty and should shock our collective conscience. To that end, it is past time for Arkansas to awake from its MAGA fever dream and recognize the deleterious political and social impact Trumpism is having on our state.