Senators Reintroduce Bill to Improve Maternal Care Through Telehealth

US Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) have reintroduced bipartisan legislation known as the Tech to Save Moms Act, which aims to leverage telehealth and digital health technology to promote maternal care outcomes.

The disparities common in healthcare are amplified among US patients seeking maternal care, making the US maternal death rate far higher than that of other comparably resourced countries. These are often racial and ethnicity-based healthcare disparities.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women in the US was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021. This rate was 2.6 times greater than that of non-Hispanic White women.

However, senators reintroduced legislation following a recommendation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) stating that digital tools are effective in closing healthcare gaps. First introduced in 2021, the Tech to Save Moms Act dedicates funds to support the growth of telehealth use to mitigate maternal mortality and poor maternal outcomes.

“Before the pandemic, New Jersey had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country and alarming racial disparities in maternal health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated barriers to equitable maternity care,” said Sen. Menendez in a press release. “The Tech to Save Moms Act will allow us to leverage new technologies to improve the integration of telehealth services in maternal health care, combat implicit biases, and ultimately reduce disparities in maternal health outcomes.”

This legislation is a part of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act introduced by Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.-14), which is comprised of 12 bills.

The Tech to Save Moms Act includes numerous provisions, including requiring the Center Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to consider models that improve telehealth integration into maternal care and providing funding for technology-based learning models to train maternal care providers in underserved communities on topics related to safety, mental health, and social determinants of health.

Other provisions of the Tech to Save Moms Act include creating a grant program to promote digital tools that enhance maternal health outcomes and commissioning a study on technology use in maternal healthcare to reduce the frequency of poor outcomes.

According to the press release, over 180 organizations endorse this legislation, including the American Academy of Nursing, the American Nurses Association, and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA).

“As part of our longstanding commitment to expanding access to care for underserved communities, the ATA and ATA Action proudly stand behind the Tech to Save Moms Act, introduced by telehealth champions, Senators Menendez and Sullivan, to improve the maternal health outcomes for rural and underserved populations,” said Kyle Zebley, senior vice president, public policy, American Telemedicine Association, and executive director, ATA Action, in the press release.

“This bipartisan legislation leverages virtual care to assist in bridging gaps in maternal healthcare, including testing telehealth models in maternity care services, providing grants to expand technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity models to help pregnant and postpartum women, and authorizing grants to increase access to digital tools,” continued Zebley.

Proposals of new legislation to support telehealth use have become increasingly common.

In February, a group of six US House representatives introduced the Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act, which aims to provide American workers with employer-sponsored telehealth benefits.

Through this bipartisan legislation, employers could offer workers standalone telehealth benefits that would operate similarly to dental and vision benefits, remaining separate from traditional healthcare plans. These benefits would apply to all workers, including those who work seasonally or on a part-time schedule.