Access to health coverage

• We advocate for access to health care coverage.
• One in five women of childbearing age is uninsured.
• More than 8 million children under age 19 are uninsured.

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Why did the March of Dimes support health care reform?

Since our founding, the March of Dimes has worked to shape public policy that affects maternal and child health. Health reform offered an unparalleled opportunity to improve the health of and address the needs of women, infants and children. Specifically:

• Expanding and improving coverage for maternity and pediatric care
• Strengthening Medicaid (which covers more than 40% of all births)
• Increasing the number of currently uninsured women of childbearing age and children who will be covered in 2014

By law and longstanding tradition, the March of Dimes is strictly nonpartisan and remained nonpartisan throughout the debate. Initially, we worked with members with many different views and party affiliations, but as the debate went on, we focused our energies on ensuring that legislation likely to be approved contained the strongest provisions possible to address the unique health needs of children and pregnant women.