The US. health care system is often described as in crisis – reflecting its complexity, inaccessibility, unaffordability, and inequitable care and outcomes. At the root of this system lies an obscure but influential committee that most people have never heard of – the Relative Value Scale Update Committee, also known as the RUC.
State Opportunities for Improving Health for Moms and Babies
The Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model’s initiatives center on three main pillars: access to care, infrastructure, and workforce capacity, quality improvement and safety, and whole-person care delivery.
Including a Health Equity Plan is Integral to Achieving Whole‑Person Health
To support Medicaid programs and partners working to transform maternal health in their state, we developed the following Maternal Health Infrastructure Policy Checklist in parallel with the playbook support for all other model elements.
Transforming Maternal Health in Medicaid
Use this Playbook to improve maternal health through Medicaid To assist state Medicaid agencies and maternal health champions in the states participating in the Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) initiative, we developed a playbook that provides concrete checklists,...
Supreme Court Case Threatens Access to Critical No-Cost Preventive Services
The Supreme Court held oral arguments on Braidwood v. Kennedy (previously Braidwood v. Becerra), which could determine the coverage of preventive care services that keep millions of people healthy. The Court will decide on whether to eliminate coverage of no-cost preventive services for patients across the country, or just for those employed by the plaintiff in the case (Braidwood Management Incorporated).
At Risk: Critical Medicaid Benefits for Moms
Medicaid is the largest single-payer of maternity care in the United States, financing an estimated forty percent of births and playing a critical role in addressing the current maternal mortality crisis. Critical Medicaid benefits for maternal health are on the chopping block as Congress debates Medicaid cuts that would threaten maternal and infant health in every state.
Seventeen States Attack HIPAA and Reproductive Health Privacy
Four lawsuits from anti-abortion extremists challenging the 2024 HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (2024 HIPAA Privacy Rule) are jeopardizing health privacy and threatening to put pregnant people at even greater risk of criminalization for their reproductive care.
Project 2025 Threatens Women and Families’ Health and Freedom
If implemented, Project 2025 would serve as a draconian tool to harm the health and well-being of women and families and decimate our basic freedoms.
Trump’s plan to slash Medicaid will harm older women – and the economy
Medicaid helps Americans thrive, yet Congressional Republican leadership and the Trump administration intend to slash this vital program. New National Partnership and Justice in Aging analyses show the potential impacts on older women.
Patient Advocate Perspectives on Advancing Value-Based, Person-Centered Care
This resource is a summary of the salient themes and recommendations that emerged from the Equity-Centered Payment Reform Learning Collaborative meeting series.
Attacks on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Threaten Nearly 3 Million Pregnant Workers
Efforts to overturn or undercut the enforcement of the PWFA puts 2.8 million pregnant workers at risk – including majorities of Black, brown and white women, and the majority in every state.
16 States Showing Women No Love for Galentine’s Day
These “not-so-sweet 16” states are among those named in NPWF’s recently released Threats on All Fronts: More Divided Than Ever, a report that looks at the increased threats women face to their lives when they live in states that put restrictions on their right to...
Threats On All Fronts
We still find that states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion also overwhelmingly fail women on a range of key work and care policies. Yet, we also find that many states have taken key steps to advance women’s health and economic freedom, and point to opportunities to do more.
Enhancing Women’s Behavioral Health Through the IBH Model
The new Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) model from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation offers significant potential to improve the way care is provided to people with behavioral health conditions.
Making the Most of Medicaid’s Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model
The new Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) model is a crucial opportunity to improve outcomes for birthing people, especially those most affected by the maternal health crisis.
Black Maternal Mental Health
The mental health of Black moms is in crisis. This infographic illustrates why and what needs to happen.
Data Privacy & Reproductive Freedom
In order to ensure pregnant people can exercise full autonomy over their bodies and lives on their own terms and without fear of criminalization, data privacy protections are urgently needed.
With Abortion on the Ballot in November, 16.5 Million Women Could be Impacted
In the November 2024 election, abortion access will be on the ballot in 10 states. Our analysis shows that more than 16.5 million women of reproductive age – 21.9 percent of all women of reproductive age in the U.S. – could be impacted by changes to reproductive rights laws in their state.
Advancing Reproductive Health Privacy, Mitigating Criminalization
The new HIPAA rule prohibits regulated entities from using or disclosing protected health information (PHI) for the purposes of conducting a criminal, civil, or administrative investigation into or imposing liability on anyone for the mere act of seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating lawful reproductive health care.
Democracy & Abortion Access: Restrictive Voting Laws Across States Threaten Freedoms
Our research finds that the states with the most restrictive abortion access policies are also the states with the greatest barriers to voting. This brief explores the intersection of state abortion policy and restrictive voting policies, showing how structured inequities are cemented into how our democracy functions to disadvantage women and people of color.
