Carney bill to help protect health of mothers and infants receives unanimous support in Senate

AUGUSTA — On Thursday, the Maine Senate voted in favor of a bill from Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, to help ensure mothers and their newborns have access to the post-birth health care they need. LD 1357, “An Act To Require Private Insurance Coverage for Postpartum Care,” received unanimous, bipartisan support. 

“New parenthood is a wonderful and challenging time. In our health care system, we rightfully place a lot of emphasis on making sure an expecting mother gets the care she deserves ahead of birth. Serious and even life-threatening health concerns can also arise after birth, including pain and bleeding, lactation difficulties, high-blood pressure and even cardiac disease. Unfortunately, private coverage for postpartum care is often limited and based on an outdated model,” said Sen. Carney. “To help ensure the health of our families, we need to make sure birth givers and babies have access to the care they need. This is an important bill for Maine families, and I’m grateful to my colleagues in the Senate for supporting it.”

LD 1357 would ensure that maternity benefits provided by health insurers include coverage for 12 months of postpartum care that meets the recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. This would apply to both individual and group contracts issued by insurers and health maintenance organizations.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a Committee Opinion in May 2018 and affirmed in 2021, titled “Optimizing Postpartum Care.” The opinion adopts a new framework for postpartum care as an ongoing process, rather than a single encounter, with services and support tailored to the patient’s individual needs. This new framework is often referred to as “fourth trimester” care. 

“We buy health insurance expecting that it will help us through the most vulnerable and important times in our life, and it’s time insurers are required to do just that for people recovering from childbirth,” said Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, in testimony supporting the bill. “Thank you to Sen. Carney for introducing this bill to support Mainers and their families.”

“Underscoring the importance of requiring private insurance coverage to meet ACOG’s recommendations, are data showing the U.S. has a high maternal mortality rate, compared with other developed nations, with one third of pregnancy-related deaths occurring between one week and one year following childbirth. In fact, U.S. women are more likely to die from causes related to birth or pregnancy than women in any other developed nation,” said Rebecca Boulos, executive director of Maine Public Health Association, in testimony supporting the bill. “This bill will enable new mothers in Maine to receive the optimal care they need post-delivery, both ensuring better health outcomes for the new mother and for their new infant.”

LD 1357 faces further votes in the Legislature.