Maternal and Child Health Resource Repository

CMS approved Medicaid demonstrations for Oregon and Massachusetts that will test innovative approaches to help eligible enrollees maintain coverage and access social services, including evidenced-based nutritional assistance and clinically-tailored housing supports. 

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) to evaluated a virtual adolescent treatment known as SparkRx. The CHLA study is the latest of many efforts to assess the value and limitations among the rapidly rising number of apps and telehealth offerings designed to serve the needs of patients accessing mental health services, particularly the young.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living this week released its first National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers, developed by two congressionally mandated advisory councils to foster public-private collaboration to support the millions of Americans who provide assistance to a family member with a health condition or functional limitation.

CMS today approved a state plan amendment allowing North Carolina to extend postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months after pregnancy for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees under the American Rescue Plan Act.

The House Ways and Means Committee today voted to advance to the full House bipartisan legislation (H.R. 8876) that would reauthorize the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, and double annual funding for the program to $800 million over five years.

An estimated 84% of pregnancy-related deaths in 36 states between 2017 and 2019 were preventable, according to a new CDC report based on data from interdisciplinary committees that review deaths during and up to one year after pregnancy. 

AHA will co-host a Sept. 27 Facebook Live event with AdventHealth on the importance of getting children vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, which will also cover the new bivalent booster shots.

AHA released an infographic on considerations for hospitals developing digital solutions to improve maternal care.

Hospitals and patients are seeking tools that support maternal health while offering greater convenience and efficiency, along with more comprehensive, culturally competent care. Digital solutions can support hospitals’ efforts as they work to improve patients’ outcomes and experiences.

Prenatal cannabis exposure after five to six weeks of pregnancy is associated with attention, social and behavioral problems that persist into early adolescence, according to a study reported yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. Supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the study is tracking nearly 12,000 youth as they grow into young adults to understand the factors that influence brain, cognitive and social-emotional development.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today alerted health care providers to an increase in pediatric hospitalizations for severe respiratory illness in patients who tested positive for rhinovirus and/or enterovirus, including enterovirus D68 (EV-D68). EV-D68 has been associated with acute flaccid myelitis, a rare but serious neurologic complication involving limb weakness.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today approved state plan amendments allowing Indiana and West Virginia to extend postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months after pregnancy for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees under the American Rescue Plan Act. They join 21 other states and Washington, D.C., in opting to extend the coverage under either the ARPA state plan option or section 1115 demonstration authority.

AHA, in comments today to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, voiced support for the agency’s new rural emergency hospital designation, particularly its potential value in the area of maternal health. “It is undeniable that access to maternal and child care services is lacking in certain areas of the country, including many rural communities,” AHA wrote.

A federal judge in Texas Aug. 23 blocked the Biden Administration from enforcing new guidance related to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which it issued following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The judge held the Department of Health and Human Services’ guidance does not preempt state law, exceeds the authority of EMTALA, and was improperly issued without notice and comment.

Improving access and quality of maternal and infant services in rural Iowa through a regional center of excellence.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today approved state plan amendments allowing Hawaii, Maryland and Ohio to extend postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months after pregnancy for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees under the American Rescue Plan Act.

Rising costs and a shortage of health care providers make access to services challenging, especially in rural communities.

Viewers of this webinar will learn about broadening the standard of care that addresses not only clinical and medical pregnancy issues but also behavioral health concerns like peripartum depression and suicide ideation. Viewers will learn how awareness and assessment of social and behavioral factors throughout the ante, peri, and postpartum periods can be an effective method for providing life-saving care for all mothers. (Webinar presented September 20, 2022)

Bundled care programs are a key driver in the transition from fee-for-service to value-based care.

AHA's John Supplitt and Aisha Syeda joined the Rural Health Information Hub’s Exploring Rural Health podcast to discuss rural health care challenges and solutions.