Proposal improving Illinois Black maternal healthcare moving to Senate

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The Pritzker administration and Democratic lawmakers say every woman in Illinois deserves the right to a healthy and safe pregnancy. A plan moving to the Senate could drastically improve maternal healthcare for Black women in Illinois.

The monumental bill in Springfield would require private insurance companies to cover maternal services provided by midwives, doulas and lactation consultants. This comes as the Illinois Department of Public Health reports Black mothers are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related medical issues than white women.

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"When Black women prepare to bring a life into this world, part of them prepares for the possibility of death too," said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. "Tell me, not as your Lt. Governor, but as the mother of four Black daughters, is that the best we can do?"

State lawmakers approved legislation last year to require Medicaid coverage for holistic services before, during and one year after birth. However, House Bill 5142 would expand healthcare coverage for even more mothers in need.

Private insurance companies could be required to cover home births, home visits and support during labor, abortion or miscarriage as well. Sen. Lakesia Collins (D-Chicago) said she is grateful that a social worker suggested she should get help from a midwife when she was pregnant with her first child.

"When I tell you it's one of the most intimate connections between a mom and a baby and your midwife, and the care for the mother and then the child all at the same time, and then the postpartum care, it really saved me," Collins said. "It really did."

Maternal health — Gov. JB Pritzker wants to provide $4.4 million to the Illinois Department of Public Health to assess the state's maternal mortality rate and create an action plan.

Gov. JB Pritzker also hopes to provide $4.4 million to IDPH in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget to address the state's maternal mortality rate and create an action plan to support community-based full spectrum care. The Democrat wants lawmakers to approve a $5 million expansion of the state's home visiting program and $1 million for a new diaper distribution program as well.

"Prioritizing our youngest children means we must first provide a holistic healthcare for pregnant people and then provide the support that continues well after babies are born," said Illinois DHS Secretary Dulce Quintero.

House Bill 5142 passed out of the House on a 72-37 vote on April 18. Senators could discuss the plan when they return to Springfield this week. Meanwhile, Pritzker's maternal healthcare budget priorities could be approved during the final days of session next month.