Washington Update

Health Care Reform

The March of Dimes is deeply engaged with Congress and the Obama Administration to make sure the health needs of women, infants and children are addressed in health care reform deliberations. When women and children have health insurance, their access to health services improves and they are much less likely to go without needed care. The March of Dimes believes that insurance – whether private or public -- should cover all medically necessary preventive and treatment services.

Specifically we are working to improve:

• Coverage for all women of childbearing age, infants, and children;
  
• Coverage for maternity and pediatric care;
  
• Protection of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility and benefits;
  
• Smoking cessation benefits for pregnant women; and
  
• Coverage for preconception and interconception care.

The documents below represent some of our current activity from  letters to Congress to advertisements in Capitol Hill publications  to the work we did advocating for the passage of the Children’s  Health Insurance Program (P.L. 111-3) to ensure that states have  the authority and resources needed to enroll all income-eligible children and pregnant women.

For More Information:

• Background on March of Dimes involvement with CHIP legislation
  
• Letter to House leaders on America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, H.R. 3200 (2009)
  
• March of Dimes Comments to the Senate Finance Committee regarding expansion of health care coverage (2009)
  
• Letter to Senator Edward Kenneday regarding the Afforable Health Choices Act (2009)
  
• Joint letter from March of Dimes, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses to U.S. Senators urging inclusion of maternity coverage (2009)
  
• Comments on the health care reform bill currently being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives (2009)
  
• Medicaid Family Planning State Option fact sheet (2008)
  
• Medicaid Coverage of Smoking Cessation for Pregant Woman fact sheet (2008)

 

Published Advertisements:

• Roll Call - June 8
  
• Roll Call - June 24
  
• Congress Daily - June 24

 

Fiscal Year 2010 Funding Priorities

• Birth Defects
• National Children’s Study
• Newborn Screening
• Prematurity

 

Priority Legislation 111th Congress

Other March of Dimes-supported Legislation

2009 Completed Initiatives

• The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA; P.L. 111-3) includes several provisions long championed by the March of Dimes such as funding sufficient to maintain coverage for all who currently rely on SCHIP for their health insurance and to add an estimated 4.1 million uninsured children to the program, a state option to enroll pregnant women who meet the income guidelines and a new requirement to develop and make available to states pediatric measures designed to improve the quality and safety of care provided children.
• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) included a number of health-related provisions which the March of Dimes advocated for such as $10 billion to expand biomedical research and improve NIH facilities, $650 million to carry out evidence-based clinical and community-based prevention and wellness strategies, $87 billion temporary FMAP increase, and extension of the moratorium on the Targeted Case Management (TCM) regulation until June 30, 2009.
• The Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. 111-8) contained several funding increases related to preterm birth for the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Children’s Study.
• Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (P.L. 111-31) granting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate the manufacturing, distribution and sale of tobacco products.

Federal Agency Activities

Surgeon General’s Conference on the Prevention of Preterm Birth

Comments Submitted

• Staff members from the March of Dimes met with members of President-Elect Obama’s transition team to highlight both short- and long-term health legislative and regulatory issues, with particular emphasis on: (1) access to coverage: (2) funding increases for research relating to prematurity, birth defects and infant mortality; (3) and preventive as well as specialty care for pregnant women, infants and children. The following document was submitted in response to the transition team’s questionnaire. (Link to pdf)
• The March of Dimes submitted testimony to the Senate Finance Committee on the need for the development and dissemination of perinatal quality measures to improve both maternal health and birth outcomes. (Link to pdf)
• The March of Dimes issued recommendations to the Food and Drug Administration on the requirements for pregnancy and lactation labeling of prescription drugs and products. (Link to pdf)
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is preparing the first edition of Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans which includes a section on exercise during pregnancy. (Link to pdf)

Public Affairs News and Testimony