Sen. Kaine looking to reduce racial inequities in maternal and infant mortality

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Virginia Senator Tim Kaine (D) says he wants to promote maternal health and reduce racial inequities in maternal and infant mortality.

He says the the extension of Medicaid coverage for one-year after childbirth was first included in the American Rescue Plan and then made permanent in the most recent government funding bill, which passed in December 2022.

“In Virginia and nationally, African American women and tribal women have a dramatically higher rate of maternal mortality, death during pregnancy or in the first year after delivery than white women,” Sen. Kaine said.

Kaine says this is also an issue in the Latino community.

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