Alabama has major issues with access to early prenatal care. According to the March of Dimes, 27% of people in Alabama are unable to see a doctor during their first trimester, increasing to 33% if the patient is black and 53% if the patient is Hispanic. To do. For these patients, this delay in treatment makes them far more likely to experience serious complications for both themselves and their children, possibly with tragic consequences for both. This result is unacceptable.
Fortunately, there is a very simple solution to this serious health crisis. It’s about giving newly pregnant people more access to health insurance. Alabama has a process in place to help uninsured pregnant people apply for Medicaid, but the system is cumbersome, outdated, causes unnecessary delays, and leaves patients unable to receive treatment in the first place. You will be forced to wait unnecessarily long for your reservation. That’s why we introduced legislation to provide presumptive Medicaid eligibility. This eliminates much of the time lag between a positive pregnancy test and the first visit to the doctor.
For those who become eligible for Medicaid through a new pregnancy, the system for obtaining insurance is a “catch-22.” That is, an impossible situation in which you cannot do one thing until you do another. In this case, no one can apply to the program without a pregnancy certificate from a doctor, but many people do not have insurance and cannot visit a doctor to receive that certificate. . Many people try to make an appointment at their county health department or other free venue for this first step, which further delays application submissions and can take up to 45 days in some cases. there is. Only then can patients schedule their first prenatal care appointment. This can be as long as 8 weeks after she realizes she is pregnant, or even into the second trimester.
Delaying the first appointment can have a devastating impact on both mother and child. Early prenatal visits provide a baseline health check that can address pre-existing health conditions and preventive care that may have been delayed due to uninsured care. Patients can receive testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, blood pressure monitoring and medication, and blood sugar testing devices to monitor diabetes. Each of these health conditions not only harms pregnant patients, but can also cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature birth, causing much of the morbidity and mortality for mothers and children.
With presumptive eligibility, uninsured and newly pregnant people are financially reviewed to see if they qualify for Medicaid. If she is assessed as likely eligible for Medicaid, you can begin receiving her prenatal care while her application is processed.
Prenatal care during the first trimester is considered a standard part of pregnancy care. But for too many Alabamians, even that basic care is denied simply by a slow bureaucracy, a health care system concerned about lost costs, and a healthcare system that fails thousands of pregnant patients annually. Blame the models that are causing (and in some cases killing) them. process).
Last week, HB494, the Maternal Health Care Access Act, was introduced to provide presumptive eligibility to all pregnant women in Alabama, and the bill has strong bipartisan support and support from women in leadership positions. This is a first but important step in providing improved maternal health care policies and making Alabama more family-friendly.
