Governor creates working group to address maternal health options in Arkansas

Gov. Sarah Sanders unveiled plans to address women’s and children’s health Wednesday (March 6) at a state capitol press conference.

The governor signed an executive order to create a new steering committee, the Arkansas Strategic Committee for Maternal Health, that will seek to improve Arkansas’ ranking as the worst state in the nation for maternal mortality.

“A goal of my administration is helping Arkansas women have the healthiest babies possible,” Sanders said. “Healthier moms mean healthier babies.”

The committee will consist of Secretary of Health Renee Mallory, Secretary of Human Services Kristi Putnam, Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Kay Chandler, and other stakeholders and participants. The group is tasked with providing policy and budget recommendations to the governor and legislature in the next six months to address the issue.

There are approximately 37,000 births in Arkansas annually. About half, or roughly 17,000 births, are covered by some form of Medicaid. According to Health Department data from 2018-2020, Arkansas had 35 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 residents. The department said 92% of those deaths were estimated to be preventable.

Roughly, 31% of maternal deaths are pregnancy related, while nearly 61% are pregnancy associated, but not necessarily related. Disorders of the cardiovascular system were the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths, although other underlying causes of pregnancy-related deaths were cardiomyopathy, cardiovascular conditions, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, infections, and hemorrhage.

In an effort to provide more resources to women post-birth, advocates for women’s health have pushed for an increase in post-partum depression Medicaid expansion coverage for women from 60 days to 12 months – a move the Sanders’ administration says is not necessary to provide help.

“The solution is not more government programs. It is to get women to take advantage of the programs that already exist,” Sanders said.

She added that there are a number of ways to connect women to postpartum coverage and the task force and her agency heads would be working to improve that communication.

Sanders said one goal of the new effort will be to create a statewide PSA campaign to promote access and education to services needed for pregnant women. There will also be a pilot program launched in five counties – Crittenden, Garland, Phillips, Polk and Scott – that have low rates of prenatal care. The pilot program will test ways to improve women’s access to existing resources.

State agencies will immediately begin implementation of several policy changes aimed at reducing maternal mortality. They said there was no additional cost to the immediate changes they planned to make as they involve existing programs.

Member of the Arkansas Strategic Committee for Maternal Health include: the Secretary of the Department of Health; the Deputy Director for Public Health Programs; the Secretary of the Department of Human Services; the State Medicaid Director; the Secretary of the Department of Education; the Arkansas Surgeon General; and the Chair of The Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

According to the governor’s executive order the committee is charged with:

• Taking immediate steps to enroll pregnant and postpartum women in Arkansas with available health coverage options, streamline coverage transition processes, and eliminate gaps in care;
• Creating a pilot program targeting five counties with low rates of prenatal care designed to increase the percentage of women who access prenatal care in the first trimester and reduce incidences of women who receive no prenatal care prior to delivery;
• Reprioritizing existing resources to develop a multi-agency maternal health education and advertising campaign;
• Exploring opportunities to foster maternal health innovations and improvements, including but not limited to grants, public-private partnerships, and changes to the Medicaid program;
• Expanding the use of evidenced-based healthcare treatment processes and protocols for pregnant and postpartum women across Arkansas hospitals;
• Developing a statewide data and analytics reporting structure for maternal health; and
• Exploring strategies to expand telehealth, home visiting, doulas, community health workers, and other reforms identified by the Committee and Group.