How Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand would address maternal and child health

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has built her presidential campaign around protecting women and families, and she’s filling out specifics with a new “Family Bill of Rights” policy, a set of proposals to improve maternal and children’s health care and broaden access to child care. Some of the programs included in Gillibrand’s new policy rollout are ones she has already supported in the past, like a national paid family leave program. But Gillibrand is adding new elements as well, saying she’d require health insurance companies to cover in vitro fertilization, an expensive procedure that’s not often covered. What would the plan do? The New York Democrat called for a slew of policy proposals that address the struggles faced by young families, from expanding health care access for mothers in rural communities to a universal pre-kindergarten program. The proposal also reiterates her support for a national paid family leave program. One of the most expensive proposals would require health insurance companies to cover IVF treatments — a procedure that’s not often included in insurance plans because of its price tag of $17,000 or more. Gillibrand’s pledge to improve rural women’s maternal heath care access is modeled after a plan put forward by former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to collect data, to develop training programs and to expand grants for rural facilities. She also highlighted the disproportionately high maternal mortality rate faced by African-American women, but did not detail specific policy proposals to address it beyond calling for “new resources to develop and implement standardized best practices” in hospitals. (Gillibrand has already introduced legislation focused specifically on maternal mortality.) Gillibrand also pledged to establish the “Equal Adoption Rights,” which would require taxpayer-funded adoption and child welfare agencies to not discriminate against foster or adoptive parents on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or religion. She would also create tax credits for adoption, as well as expanding the Child and Dependent Care tax credit. For infants, Gillibrand said she would automatically enroll all children into the state-federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, with an option for parents to opt their kids out of the universal program. She would also implement a national “Baby Bundle” program to provide new families with diapers, swaddle blankets, baby clothes and a safe infant mattress. Similar programs already exist in Ohio, Alabama, New Jersey and Texas. How would it work? Gillibrand has yet to detail exactly how she would accomplish some of her plans, through either through legislation or executive action. For example, Gillibrand pledged to address the shortage of OB-GYNs in rural areas, but didn’t specify how she’d increase their numbers, nor did she specify how much money she’d funnel to this effort. On tax credits, Gillibrand gave more specifics, saying she would expand the Child and Dependent Care tax credit to cover up to 50 percent of $12,000 in qualifying care. She would also offer adoption tax credits, but did not specify the amount. On universal pre-K and a paid family leave, Gillibrand called for establishing national paid leave programs, but did not detail specifics. Both ideas are popular — but expensive. How much would it cost? Gillibrand’s plan does not put exact pricing details on her various programs. But she suggested that she’d pay for her proposal by passing a “financial transaction tax,” which would “provide $777 billion over the next decade,” according to the plan. It’s not clear, however, whether that would actually cover all the costs associated with such an expansive policy proposal. What have other Democrats proposed? Elements of Gillibrand’s plan overlaps with proposals from other 2020 presidential contenders. Much of the Democratic field supports a national paid family leave program, as well as universal pre-kindergarten. Sen. Elizabeth Warren proposed a universal childcare program, paid for by a new tax on multimillionaires. Julian Castro also called for universal pre-kindergarten in his education plan, after he championed universal pre-K in San Antonio when he was mayor. Who would it help? Gillibrand’s plan focuses on women, children and families. She emphasizes in her proposal that it aims to put all children on the same footing, regardless of their socio-economic status. Who opposes it? So far, no Democrats have expressed opposition to this kind of a plan. Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine Source: https://politi.co/2VDz8GZ Droolin’ Dog sniffed out this story and shared it with you. The Article Was Written/Published By: eschneider@politico.com (Elena Schneider) ! #Headlines, #Democrats, #Election2020, #Elections, #People, #Political, #Politico, #politics, #Trending, #Newsfeed, #syndicated, news http://bit.ly/30Dlnfd
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