Mississippi received the lowest ranking of the 50 states for the overall health of women and children in the new America's Health Rankings report by the United Health Foundation.

Mississippi comes in 48th among states for its high maternal mortality rate, which has more than doubled since the last report. Nationwide, maternal mortality is up 29% since 2019.

State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney said Black women in Mississippi are four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than are white women, which he called "absolutely unacceptable to everybody." He said the state's Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies program for Medicaid recipients with high-risk pregnancies should make a big difference.

"Having that nurse that's assigned to the high-risk cases that's actually going into the home and working with the mom and the families," he said, "and being able to be in the home with them until the baby is a year old."

Edney said decreasing maternal and infant mortality is the Health Department's number one priority. He said Mississippi will be the first to institute a "systems of care" approach to prenatal care, focused on reducing risks for moms and babies, especially in areas where getting care is difficult.

Positives from the report included Mississippi's number one ranking for cervical cancer screening and number three for infant child-care cost.

Edney said they're also working hard to make sure Mississippians understand the importance of prenatal care and being healthy before they get pregnant.

"Understand what moves a woman in Mississippi of child-bearing age into the high-risk category," he said, "and teach them, 'How do you mitigate your risk? How do you keep from being a high-risk pregnancy?'"

Dr. Lisa Saul, national medical director for maternal child health at UnitedHealthcare, said severe maternal morbidity - health conditions from diabetes to high blood pressure and infections that can put a pregnant person's life at risk - have also increased 22% since the last report. She agreed with the need for more education.

"How can we arm them differently, with the information that they need to enter into a pregnancy as healthy as they can," she said, "and to know how to advocate for themselves, I think is really important."

Saul also stressed the importance of "calling out" the disparities in pregnancy outcomes for people of color.


get more stories like this via email

About 1.3 million Missourians are currently enrolled in Medicaid and nonprofits around the state have warned proposed federal cuts would be devastating.

In Missouri, children are the largest group served by Medicaid, with 61% enrolled. States could face more than $800 billion in Medicaid cuts and more than $200 billion in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps.

McClain Bryant Macklin, vice president of policy and impact for the Kansas City nonprofit Health Forward Foundation, emphasized how important Medicaid is to the organization.

"From a policy perspective as well as where we tend to lend our funding support is squarely in that direction, and Medicaid access has been our primary policy issue, really since our inception," Bryant Macklin explained. "It's just our number one priority."

Supporters of the cuts argued Medicaid is inefficient because of waste and fraud, and restructuring or reducing funding could improve sustainability.

Bryant Macklin noted the Health Forward Foundation played a key role in advocating for Medicaid expansion in Missouri, contributing to policy changes which extended coverage to thousands of low-income residents. She stressed as a Medicaid expansion state, Missouri will need to find funding from other critical sources, which could result in further challenges.

"State legislators are going to be forced to -- and administrators forced to -- find those dollars elsewhere," Bryant Macklin pointed out. "That elsewhere will be from other key social services that folks are relying upon and that the state has grown accustomed to receiving that federal support."

Those in favor of the cuts said they would give states greater control over Medicaid through block grants, which are fixed amounts of federal funding states can use with more flexibility, to tailor programs to local needs and priorities.

Indiana is losing millions in public health funding as the federal government cuts grants for state and local programs.

In Marion County, officials confirmed the immediate loss of a $450,000 immunization grant, leaving employees searching for ways to continue vaccination efforts amid ongoing disease outbreaks.

Dr. Virginia Caine, director and chief medical officer for the Marion County Health Department, highlighted the cuts during a town hall hosted by Rep. André Carson, D-Ind.

"We are now seeing that they've cut all state and local health departments budgets," Caine explained. "We have to be very concerned about our ability to protect the public."

Caine noted the federal government eliminated $13.1 billion in funding for state and local health departments, part of a broader rollback of pandemic-era grants. Indiana Department of Health legislative director Rachel Swartwood recently commented the state's goal is to ensure no direct services to Hoosiers are interrupted.

State health officials estimate Indiana will lose about $40 million because of the cuts. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced plans to eliminate 10,000 full-time jobs. The totality of the cuts is very concerning for Caine.

"When we had this fentanyl epidemic with overdoes -- we have the bird flu taking place across this country -- we have to be concerned," Caine emphasized. "Do we have the workforce to come out and meet these demands?"

Marion County officials are evaluating how to fill the funding gap. Caine added the department has 300 positions supported by grants and expressed concern job losses and service reductions could follow if no alternative funding emerges.


get more stories like this via email

Oregon does not have enough health care workers and the need continues to grow.

Service Employees International Union Local 49 members said retention is a key cause of the shortage and they are lobbying for two bills in Salem to improve job quality across the industry. Over the next 10 years, health care and social services will need to bring in nearly 225,000 workers, according to the Oregon Employment Department.

Matt Swanson, political strategist for SEIU Local 49, said meeting the growing demand will take every possible intervention.

"I heard from many workers about how tired they are," Swanson reported. "How difficult it is to provide quality patient care when there just aren't enough people working."

One bill at the top of the union's priority list would address unchecked workplace violence, which health care workers experience at a higher rate than any other industry. Another would expand funding to allow providers to continue to work while going to school for advanced training.

Felipa Nesta, a licensed practical nurse at Kaiser Permanente, is using existing funding to get a nursing degree while working. She said Senate Bill 27 would help meet the growing demand for health care providers by increasing funding for such programs as well as providing wage replacement, child care, and transportation.

"It would help so more people can get into health care jobs without being buried in debt," Nesta emphasized.

Rachel Dennis, a certified nursing assistant at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center, said Senate Bill 537 mandates de-escalation training as well as systems to notify providers of potentially violent patients. It also guarantees counseling and paycheck protection for injured employees. She noted nearly all her coworkers have faced verbal or physical assault on the job.

"I'm tired of seeing my coworkers leave because they're scared to go to work," Dennis stressed.

Both bills have had public hearings and are scheduled for work sessions in Salem.