CMS announces states selected for Medicaid maternal health model
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this week the 14 states selected to participate in the Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model. The District of Columbia will also participate in the model.
The new model, which CMS originally announced in December 2023, aims to improve maternal health care for women and children enrolled in Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by supporting participating state Medicaid agencies in the development of a whole-person approach to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care that addresses the physical, mental health, and social needs throughout pregnancy.
The model encompasses three main pillars: Access to care, infrastructure, and workforce capacity; quality improvement and safety; and whole-person care delivery.
The states selected to participate in the model include:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- District of Columbia
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New Jersey
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Study: Gender-based racism, microaggressions linked to postpartum hypertension
Experiences with racism is associated with increased postpartum blood pressure, according to a recent study published by Hypertension, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.
The study examined the connection between high blood pressure and gender-based racism through microaggressions, which the researchers explained as subtle unintentional slights, that occur throughout health care experiences during pregnancy and delivery.
Using the Gendered Racial Microaggressions Scale (GRMS), the research team asked 373 Asian, Black, and Hispanic women, who delivered at four hospitals in Philadelphia and New York City, about their experiences with gendered racial microaggressions. The participants checked their blood pressure at home for three months following their delivery. Researchers also estimated community-level structural racism with the Structural Racism Effect Index.
“This work serves as a reminder of the long-term impact that racism can have on one’s overall health. The magnitude of these types of physiologic changes may become cumulative over time and lead to the inequities we see in many health outcomes,” said senior study author Lisa Levine, M.D., M.S.C.E., the Michael T. Mennuti, M.D., associate professor in reproductive health, director of the Pregnancy and Heart Disease Program and chief of the Maternal Fetal Medicine Division at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, in a statement.
Study findings include:
- More than one-third of Asian, Black, and Hispanic women experienced at least one gendered racial microaggression during their obstetrical care.
- Participants who experienced one or more gendered racial microaggressions had three-month average systolic and diastolic blood pressure that were 2.12 mm Hg and 1.43 mm Hg higher than those who did not report microaggressions.
- The highest three-month average blood pressures came from participants who experienced microaggressions and lived in areas with high levels of structural racism, whereas the lowest average blood pressures were observed in participants who lived in areas with low levels of structural racism and who didn’t report experiencing microaggressions.
HHS announces $700M toward clean drinking water and sanitation infrastructure
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week announced the Indian Health Service (IHS) will allocate $700 million in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), to ensuring essential drinking water and sanitation infrastructure throughout Indian Country.
Between 2022 and 2026, the BIL provides $3.5 billion to the IHS to develop critical Tribal water infrastructure, including robust drinking water sources, reliable sewage systems, and effective solid waste disposal facilities.
The $700 million in funding is estimated to benefit more than 14.450 American Indian and Alaska Native households, providing access to essential sanitation facility services. The first four years of the BIL funding combined will benefit almost 110,000 American Indian and Alaska Native households.
“The projects funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are making substantial improvements in clean water and sanitation systems in our tribal communities,” said IHS Director Roselyn Tso in a statement. “In the first three years of BIL funding, the IHS supported over 765 construction projects across all IHS areas. With the FY 2025 funding, the IHS will allocate $700 million to support an additional 67 construction projects. As we enter the fourth year of BIL funding, the IHS is delighted to continue collaborating with our tribal partners and federal partners, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of Reclamation to ensure safe drinking water, reliable sewage systems, and solid waste disposal facilities are made available to tribal communities throughout Indian Country.”