Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., joined colleagues this week to unveil a plan to boost Medicaid funding for labor and delivery units at hospitals in rural and underserved communities. [Health News Illinois]

“It is absolutely unconscionable that hundreds of expectant and new moms in maternity deserts are left without access to the care they need,” Duckworth said in a statement. “Every mother, no matter their zip code, deserves access to high-quality maternal healthcare.”

Supporters say the proposal, co-signed with 17 other Democratic senators, would address the “root causes of labor and delivery unit closures.”

It would enhance federal financing for eligible rural and high-need urban hospitals and set a Medicaid labor and delivery revenue floor to cover the costs of staffing and maintaining obstetric services at low-volume hospitals.

And supporters say it will expand Medicaid flexibilities to fuel “innovative care delivery, including through maternal health homes.”

The bill would also require states to provide coverage for postpartum women in Medicaid for 12 months, a move Illinois and 46 other states have already taken.

From 2011 to 2021, nearly a quarter of the country's rural hospital obstetrics units closed, according to a report cited by lawmakers. In 2022, over 2.3 million women of childbearing age lived in counties without an obstetric facility or clinician.

###