“Today, on behalf of the 3 million volunteers and 1400 staff of the March of Dimes working in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, I commend Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) for their leadership in authoring the “Prevent Prematurity and Improve Child Health Act”.
“This bill, if enacted, would allow states to make modest, but important improvements in their State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP), including: enrolling income-eligible pregnant women without a federal waiver, enrolling legal immigrant pregnant women and children, and partnering with private insurance to cover underinsured infants and children with special health care needs. The legislation would also provide Medicaid reimbursement for counseling and prescriptions to help pregnant women stop smoking and and the bill would authorize a 3 to 5 site telemedicine demonstration project to improve access to specialty health services for pregnant women in rural areas who are at risk for premature delivery.
“These and other provisions of the bill would be major steps forward toward solving the significant and growing problem of preterm birth. Prematurity is one of the most common, serious and costly problems facing America's infants, affecting more than 500,000 babies in the U.S. each year, and causing long term health problems, disability and even death. Recent government data shows preterm birth to be the leading cause of newborn death in the United States.
“The March of Dimes looks forward to working with Senators Lincoln and Lugar to achieve swift approval of this important bill.”
