SPONSOR: Unsicker
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Children and Families by a vote of 11 to 0. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules- Administrative Oversight by a vote of 9 to 0.
This bill establishes the "Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Board" to improve data collection and reporting with respect to maternal mortality and to support populations at risk of death and severe complications from pregnancy by creating a board with multidisciplinary and diverse members appointed by the Director of the Department of Health and Senior Services. The membership shall represent a variety of clinical specialties, public health officials and other maternal care stakeholders. The board shall submit an annual report to the director of the department, the Governor, and the General Assembly on maternal mortality and other research and may also conduct, or fund research and prevention activities that address healthy pregnancies. The bill permits the Department of Health and Senior Services to seek external funding for these initiatives and cooperate with other entities to accomplish the goals of the initiative.
This bill is similar to HB 2303 (2018).
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that maternal mortality is an important issue and the current PAMR board has been working to identify and address the challenges this bill is addressing.
Testifying for the bill were Representative Unsicker; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; and the Missouri State Medical Association.
OPPONENTS: Missouri Hospital Association opposes the bill because they do not believe the bill has adequate protections for hospitals and providers. They believe the bill also needs more focus on deaths not related to health care because only one third of the pregnancy-associated deaths are due to medical causes.
Testifying against the bill was the Missouri Hospital Association.
Statutes affected: