CORRECTION: State Reps. Morgan Cephas and Gina Curry are both members of the Democratic Party. A previous version of this story incorrectly identified them as Republicans. (9:38 a.m. MDT, May 21, 2025)

With Mother's Day coming up, some Pennsylvania lawmakers are backing a set of bills that could help improve maternal health.

The Black Maternal Health Caucus introduced the updated "PA Momnibus 2.0" package in April, focused on tackling disparities in maternal health care by improving access to services.

Black women in the state are nearly twice as likely to die from childbirth complications. Rep. La'Tasha D. Mayes, D-Allegheny County, said 93% of maternal deaths are preventable.

"All the bills are for all moms, and because we know when we fix and address and take on maternal mortality and morbidity for Black moms, we solve it for every mom and birthing person in the Commonwealth," she explained.

The nine-bill package builds upon a 2024 "Momnibus" introduced by Mayes, Rep. Morgan Cephas, D-Philadelphia, and Rep. Gina Curry, D-Delaware County. Mayes said the caucus is working towards moving the bills toward votes, and then action in the Senate.

Two of the measures would expand access to blood pressure monitors and ensure they are covered through private insurance and Medicaid. Mayes added another measure would expand the reach of midwives, who provide care throughout pregnancy and childbirth, as well as postpartum.

"The Midwifery Practice Innovation bill that's going to help us advance midwifery as an occupation in this commonwealth, because it's very challenging to become a midwife, as well as be able to practice fully in a way that can serve moms," she continued.

The "Momnibus" also includes supports for nursing mothers, and invests in a Maternal and Newborn Supply Kit program, and maternal-health deserts. Mayes says more than 12% of women have no birthing facility within 30 minutes of their home, and Black women are three times more likely to die during or after birth compared with other women.

As Republican lawmakers consider cutting billions of dollars in Medicaid services, a new report reveals the proposed reductions could affect thousands of military families in Pennsylvania. The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families says more than 850,000 people with TRICARE, the military's health insurance, also rely on Medicaid.

Retired Army Brigadier General George Schwartz points out that one in 10 children of active-duty military depends on Medicaid for additional health coverage, and warns that without proper coverage for their families, service members may leave the military for careers with better benefits, which would affect recruitment.

"And as those young people reach the age where they're eligible for military service, or the military is competing with private industry and all sorts of organizations for these young people. And so that, from a mission readiness standpoint, this is a matter of national security," he explained.

Pennsylvania is home to more than 2,500 active-duty military members, and more than 111,000 veterans and military contractors. The budget reconciliation bill is in the Senate with a vote expected by the end of June. Republicans are pushing for $2 trillion in federal spending cuts.

Medicaid also serves 40% of children in the United States with a benefit that allows them to receive preventive and ameliorative care.

Joan Alker, executive director, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said Medicaid is vital for service members whose kids need more complex medical care.

"The TRICARE benefit package just isn't enough, so Medicaid is making TRICARE work for those families by covering the high cost of services and some benefits that those children otherwise would not have access to," she explained.

Schwartz served in both the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard and said most of his military experience has been as a citizen soldier. He added Medicaid cuts would also affect veterans and their families, since around 50% of young people in the nation currently use Medicaid for their health coverage.

"I am very concerned that this could affect those citizen soldiers too, because it was only since 911 that TRICARE was extended to reservists and National Guardsmen because it was viewed as a matter of improving the readiness of the reserve components," he continued.

According to the report, an estimated 3.4 million children of veterans depend on Medicaid for their health-care coverage.

Medicare loses $60 billion to $80 billion a year to fraud and this year, for Medicare Fraud Prevention Week, your local Senior Medicare Patrol has good advice on how to spot a con.

There are plenty of scams to be aware of.

Karen Joy Fletcher, communications director with the nonprofit California Health Advocates, said beware if a caller asks to verify your Medicare number, claiming the program needs to send out a new type of card.

"This is just a way for people to steal people's Medicare number," Fletcher explained. "To commit identity theft, and to defraud Medicare, ordering services or items that they most likely will never receive."

Caregivers can be on the lookout for medical equipment arriving at the house even though the beneficiary never ordered it. Another red flag? A stranger may approach you in a parking lot asking you to sign up for new, free Medicare services like house cleaning or meals, which are then fraudulently billed to the government.

Fletcher encouraged people to check their Medicare summary notices online at MyMedicare.gov on a regular basis to make sure everything is in order.

"It's a good way to see if Medicare is being charged for things that maybe somebody never received, or from doctors they've never seen," Fletcher pointed out.

Another scam involves tricking people into unknowingly signing up for hospice care. It is especially dangerous, because once a person is on hospice, Medicare will only approve palliative care and could mistakenly deny an essential surgery or medication.

More than 1.5 million people in Tennessee, or 20% of the state's population, rely on health insurance provided by Medicaid.

Maddie Michael, Tennessee government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said access to health care coverage is one of the greatest predictors of whether someone survives their cancer diagnosis. She added cuts to Medicaid, also known as TennCare, could mean people lose access to routine cancer screenings and early detection tests.

"Without this insurance and without access to this care, there will be late-term diagnoses for cancer," Michael asserted. "Which are more costly to the patients, more costly to the state, and have lower survival rates, unfortunately."

Ten Tennessee advocacy groups, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, gathered Tuesday outside the offices of Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., calling on them to protect Medicaid funding for Tennesseans. The Senate is set to vote on the proposed budget by the end of June.

Michael argued cutting Medicaid will have an especially big effect on cancer patients in Tennessee's rural and low-income areas, which rely heavily on the program for services.

"Rural communities already have higher cancer death rates than their urban counterparts," Michael pointed out. "That's often due to barriers to care, like hospital closures, which we've seen across Tennessee, and transportation issues. When you take away someone's health insurance, you're going to make those challenges in rural areas even worse."

Michael noted Tennesseans can express their concerns at FightCancer.org.


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