Last year, CMS announced a grant opportunity to boost state Medicaid agency efforts to improve maternal health in the United States. The Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model seeks to help states develop a comprehensive approach to the perinatal period that addresses the whole person’s physical, mental health, and social needs that may be experienced during pregnancy and beyond. Today, CMS named the 15 states that will be receiving funding to implement the TMaH Model:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- California
- District of Columbia
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New Jersey
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
CMS Center for Innovation TMaH Model will support the state Medicaid agencies with up to $17 million. The model will run for 10 years and aims to improve adverse maternal health outcomes and decrease program expenditures. The three main initiatives of the TMaH Model are to improve access to care, infrastructure, and workforce capacity—including doulas or community health workers–, improve quality improvement and safety, and integrate a more whole-person care delivery approach.
We will be watching state progress on the TMaH Model with great interest. States don’t need a TMaH grant to make the kinds of changes TMaH seeks to advance, but the additional funding and assistance will help propel those states receiving grants. It will also be important to monitor developments in Arkansas and Wisconsin—the only two states that have not moved to extend postpartum coverage to 12 months. How will these states support coverage transitions among postpartum women who lose Medicaid coverage after 60 days following a birth?
TMaH is another important step by the Biden administration to address maternal health. Through the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis initiative, income eligibility for pregnancy coverage in Medicaid and CHIP has increased, as has the state option for 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage and the launch of a Maternal Mental Health Taskforce and Hotline. Other state wins have included increases in doula care reimbursement rates.
The TMaH initiative marks another important step forward in national and state efforts to improve maternal health outcomes. The new options states have taken to advance maternal health will only be as strong as the Medicaid program itself. Any new attempts to dramatically cut or cap the program will shift costs to states and risk undermining maternal health progress. We hope states continue to have a strong federal partner in the effort to combat maternal mortality and morbidity.