FRANKFORT, Ky. —  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Kentucky has the second highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S. with 37 out of 100,000 women dying during or within 42 days after childbirth.

What You Need To Know

  • House Bill 10, dubbed the "Momnibus Bill," would ensure all stages of pregnancy are a qualifying life event for insurance coverage

  • Kentucky is the second worst state in America for maternal mortality rates 

  • HB 10 provides mental health counseling and access, expands the state's HANDS program and strengthens an existing advisory council 

  • The bill has bi-partisan support 

Aimed at lowering the state's maternal mortality rate, House Bill 10, dubbed the "Momnibus Bill" by supporters, would ensure pregnancy is a qualifying life event for insurance coverage. It would also include mental health consultation for mothers during the perinatal period. 

State Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, said the proposal seeks to ensure mothers and babies in Kentucky have access to the best care available and the best chance at a healthy start in life.

“Experts who we’ve talked to and have worked with through this process all say that nearly all maternal deaths are preventable," Moser said.

Moser’s bill would address the leading cause of maternal deaths: lack of access to health care. Some health insurance policies only cover the delivery of the baby and not the pre- or postnatal care.

“Including a shortage of caregivers, a lack of insurance and inadequate postpartum supports and socioeconomic disparities," Moser said.

Moser has bipartisan support and bicameral support for the bill. In addition to insurance coverage, it will also increase mental health care through the Lifeline for Moms Psychiatry Access Program.

Kentucky Birthing Coalition director Mary Katherine Delodder said this is what she is most excited to see in the bill.

“This hotline has been implemented in other states very successfully," Delodder said.

State Rep. Sarah Stalker, D-Louisville, said early access to prenatal care is the best method to lower maternal mortality rates. 

“This bill gives Kentucky the chance to be among the first handful of states to take this needed step," Stalker said. "New York did it first in 2016, and four other states, plus D.C., have taken this action as well." 

Supporters have said expanding pre-natal coverage would also address existing health issues of mothers such as hypertension, obesity or substance use, all of which can lead to problems for the mother and her baby.

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