Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday announced a campaign aimed at improving maternal health in Arkansas.
At a morning press conference, Sanders signed an executive order creating a committee, which includes some cabinet officials, that will formulate a “comprehensive statewide strategic health plan.”
One of the goals of the plan will be to connect more Arkansas women with healthcare providers before, during and after pregnancy, Sanders said. The plan will also aim to advertise care and coverage options to pregnant Arkansans and improve the state’s collection of maternal health data, according to the executive order.
The executive order directs state agencies to immediately work on enrolling all eligible Arkansans in existing health insurance programs that cover pregnancy and postpartum care, including Medicaid programs, Sanders said.
Sanders’ announcement comes after she was criticized last month for saying she didn’t believe expanding Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months was necessary.
Arkansas has the nation’s highest maternal mortality rate and the third highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.
Arkansas maternal health care landscape needs more coordination and teamwork, physicians say
The state sees roughly 35,000 births per year, but about 10,000 pregnant Arkansans do not seek medical care until after their first trimester and 1,100 do not see a doctor until they are giving birth, Sanders said.
“That’s an education problem, not a coverage problem,” she said.
State officials on the committee include Secretary of Human Services Kristi Putnam, State Medicaid Director Janet Mann, Health Secretary Renee Mallory and Surgeon General Kay Chandler. The committee is required to report its progress to Sanders in six months.
Pilot program
More than half of births in the state are covered by Medicaid, and Arkansas is one of three states that have not taken advantage of the federal option to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months after birth. A 2023 bill would have extended this coverage but did not advance in the Legislature due to cost concerns.
Sanders said in February that she “wouldn’t say that that additional level of legislation is needed” since the state has other insurance coverage options for postpartum low-income Arkansans. She repeated this sentiment Wednesday, saying the Medicaid option would “create a redundant program.”
“It would make for a good headline, but it doesn’t actually solve the issue,” Sanders said. “That’s because Arkansas already has resources for pregnant women through all nine months of pregnancy and beyond… The solution is not more government programs. The solution is getting women to take advantage of the programs we already have.”
The state’s “continuous coverage” options for low-income postpartum Arkansans include fee-for-service Medicaid, the ARHOME Medicaid expansion program or “a low-cost subsidized health plan on the federal health care marketplace,” Putnam said.
“To date, we have not identified any true gaps in coverage, so adding [10 more months of postpartum Medicaid] would simply be duplicative and not the best use of resources,” Putnam said. “But we also know that simply providing coverage, if that coverage is not being used, does not make anyone healthier.”
Need to get in touch?
Have a news tip?
Five counties with high rates of pregnant Arkansans receiving no maternal health care at all — Phillips, Crittenden, Scott, Garland and Polk — will be the focus of a state-run pilot program, created by Sanders’ executive order, to increase access to maternal health care and coverage, Mallory said.
Health issues that cause complications during pregnancy, such as cardiovascular issues, are often preexisting and Arkansans should receive treatment for these conditions before becoming pregnant, Mallory and Chandler both said.
Chandler, who is a practicing OB/GYN, and Department of Health staff will hold community meetings in all five counties in the coming weeks “to share county-specific facts and data and begin a roadmap for local maternal success,” Mallory said.
Sanders’ executive order drew criticism from Jannie Cotton, vice chair of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, at a party press conference later on Wednesday.
Cotton said the order “lacks the depth and scope needed to bring about substantial improvements in maternal health outcomes.”
She also noted the lack of racial and ethnic diversity among the women at Sanders’ press conference, calling it “a photo opportunity.”
Black maternal mortality in Arkansas rose 110% in two decades, study shows
“Did you see yourself or your family represented in the governor’s press conference today? I surely didn’t,” Cotton said. “It’s clear Black maternal health, which is the worst in the nation, is not a priority in this administration, and that’s concerning.”
The rate at which Black women in Arkansas die during childbirth or within a year of giving birth more than doubled from 1999 to 2019, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Additionally, Arkansas’ Black children consistently have worse health outcomes from birth onward than children of other races, according to a study published in January by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
