[1]NNU - Medicare for All!



It’s Black History Month, so we’re taking the time each week this February
to focus on the racial disparities that exist in our current, broken
health care system.

Some of the worst disparities in health outcomes between Black and white
communities are seen in maternal and infant health. For decades, Black
mothers and their infants have faced heightened risks of complications and
even death.

According to the Tufts Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive
Justice, “Black mothers are 3-4X more likely to die from pregnancy-related
complications than their white counterparts. More than 80% of
pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.”^1

[ [link removed] ]^[ [link removed] ]KFF Figure 2: Maternal Mortality (per 100,000 births) by
Race/Ethnicity, 2018-2021

Despite advances in science and technology, maternal deaths in the United
States have increased year over year. Existing disparities in maternal and
infant health have only been exacerbated in recent years by the COVID-19
pandemic as well as the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v.
Wade, limiting reproductive health care for millions of people.^2

These disparities don’t just impact maternal patients, but also their
infants. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that “infants born to women
of color are at higher risk for mortality compared to those born to white
women,” due to causes like “birth defects, preterm birth and low birth
weight, maternal pregnancy complications, sudden infant death syndrome,
and injuries.”^2

No mother or infant should face greater risk of health complications and
death simply because of their race. So how can we fix this?

Unfortunately, there are a variety of factors that contribute to this
problem. The CDC reports that these disparities are caused by, “variation
in quality healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism,
and implicit bias.”^3

In our current, profit-driven health care system, inequities in health
insurance, family income, and access to care can contribute to this. A
major way to eliminate those factors would be through Medicare for All - a
single-payer health care system that guarantees the same high quality care
for ALL, regardless of a person’s race, ethnicity, income, employment, or
location.

We know that Medicare for All would provide lifelong coverage for all
medically necessary health services, including primary care,
contraception, pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. And it would
provide these services without the copays, deductibles, and premiums that
so often create barriers to care.

We have a lot of work to do to address structural racism and implicit bias
within our society and health care system, but a major piece of the puzzle
to end racial disparities in maternal and infant health could be solved by
passing Medicare for All.

Thanks for everything you do to spread the word and build support for our
nationwide campaign to pass Medicare for All and achieve true health care
justice.

In solidarity,

Nurses’ Campaign to Win Medicare for All

 

Sources:

1. Tufts School of Medicine: Center for Black Maternal Health &
Reproductive Justice.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

2. “Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and
Efforts to Address Them,” Latoya Hill, Samantha Artiga, and Usha Ranji,
KFF, November 1, 2022.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

3. “Working Together to Reduce Black Maternal Mortality,” Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, April 3, 2023.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]



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