Cohen: Infant Mortality Rate in Memphis Far Too High
[MEMPHIS, TN] – At the Shelby County Health Department’s 2015 Infant Mortality Summit this morning, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) discussed his efforts to reduce the rate of infant mortality in Memphis as well as highlighted a new health clinic in Raleigh funded in part by the Affordable Care Act. The Congressman also highlighted provisions of the Affordable Care Act that can help Memphians keep themselves, their families, and their communities healthy. Those provisions include insurance coverage of mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, and immunizations without copays or deductibles as well as other comprehensive preventive services for women.
“The infant mortality rate in Memphis is woefully high, and some ZIP codes have rates as high as those in Third World countries,” said Congressman Cohen. “We not only have food deserts in our Memphis communities, but we have health care deserts as well. I am disappointed that the Tennessee General Assembly has neglected to expand TennCare coverage to 280,000 Tennesseans, as that would go a long way towards improving the situation here, but I am glad that the Affordable Care Act is helping fund new clinics, like one in Raleigh, that are providing care to those who otherwise would not have access to it and are helping us fight infant mortality in Memphis.”
In addition to speaking at events like today’s to bring attention to these important issues, Congressman Cohen has also hosted infant mortality awareness events and he supports numerous pieces of legislation in Congress that aim to lower infant mortality rates across the country. Last month, he sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell asking that she take administrative action to create infant mortality-focused programs that will provide pre-natal care and community outreach to educate at-risk and potential mothers about pregnancy and infant mortality. In the letter, the Congressman asked, if such programs are created, that Memphis be includedas one of the target cities.
“Everyone in the Ninth District should know that the Affordable Care Act ensures that they can no longer be denied coverage simply because of a pre-existing condition and that preventive services no longer require co-pays or deductibles,” continued the Congressman. “With millions of Americans now enrolled in the law’s health insurance marketplaces, the law’s benefits and protections are helping save lives in our city and around the country.”
The Congressman was the primary sponsor of H.R. 4639, the Nationally Enhancing the Wellbeing of Babies through Outreach and Research Now (NEWBORN) Act, which would create a number of pilot projects in high risk areas across the country so that we can better track instances of infant mortality, provide more support to at-risk mothers, and develop and implement standardized systems to promote healthy pregnancies. The Congressman also co-sponsored H.R. 4216, the Maternal Health Accountability Act of 2014. This legislation would provide grants to states to establish Maternal Mortality Review Committees to examine pregnancy-related and pregnancy-associated deaths and to identify ways to reduce maternal mortality rates.