Michigan moms call attention to threats to Medicaid during annual ‘Mama’s March’

BY ANNA LIZ NICHOLS, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

MICHIGAN—Waving back at her young daughters in the crowd, Lansing-area birth and postpartum doula Kendra Smith told attendees of the annual “Mama’s March” outside the Michigan State Capitol Wednesday that in order to promote healthy families, Medicaid and systems of support need to be preserved.

There’s a lot of concern from different advocacy and service groups at the moment as Republicans in Congress have floated proposals for cutting hundreds of billions of dollars to Medicaid which funds services and care for individuals who have low incomes or disabilities.

Medicaid is not a line item easily crossed out without grave repercussions, Smith said. Medicaid often means the difference between a mother going to a postpartum check-up appointment to determine if she needs medical attention, or not going to that check-up appointment, Smith said, adding that those appointments provide access to prenatal vitamins, lactation support and birth in a hospital.

“For Black and brown moms who are already navigating higher risk and barriers, Medicaid often makes the difference between life and death, and that’s not hyperbole. That’s reality,” Smith said.

National data reflects that Black women are more than twice as likely to die from pregancy-related causes than their white counterparts and Michigan state data reflects the same reality where Black mothers were nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white mothers.

In order to comply with the spending plans and priorities of President Donald Trump’s administration, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which regulates Medicaid amongst other governernment programs, is currently looking at how to save $880 billion, with Medicaid on the chopping block.

For the last decade, typically more than 40% of births in Michigan have been funded, at least in-part, through Medicaid programs, according to reporting from the Michigan League for Public Policy.

Medicaid provides care to those most vulnerable in Michigan, who might not have access to quality housing, nutrition or prenatal or postnatal educational resources, Smith said.

“So when that funding is cut, we’re not pulling access, we’re pulling care from the very families that need it most. We’re making it harder to close the gap and easier for preventable tragedies to continue,” Smith said. “I’m asking you to stay loud, call your lawmakers, share your stories and fight for your families, because every parent deserves to be helped. Every child deserves to be born into a system that’s ready to care for them, not cut them loose.”

As the approximately 100 attendees headed off to seek out state lawmakers to urge preservation of Medicaid-funded services, Aisha Wells, deputy director of organizing for Mothering Justice, which sponsored the rally, told the Michigan Advance that she hopes state lawmakers in the predominately white Legislature remember their districts all have moms and people of color and residents who rely on Medicaid.

As the mother of a teenage son and baby boy, Wells said she remembers not being listened to as a Black woman during her first pregnancy, dealing with doctors who shut down her concerns, but later determined her oldest son had obstructive congenital hydrocephalus which impacts the brain.

And though mothers of color in the Michigan state Legislature like Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) and Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) are leading the charge in combating adverse health outcomes for moms of color, Wells said, all lawmakers should be fighting to preserve health care for families in their district.

“Everybody in your community is important. They matter. If one of us is being harmed, we’re all being harmed,” Wells said.

READ MORE: Michigan Senate passes ‘Momnibus’ legislative package on final day of Black Maternal Health Week

This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.