The livestream below will begin at the time of the event.

Compared with other similarly wealthy countries, the United States ranks worst in maternal deaths. What lies at the heart of America’s maternal health crisis is a woefully unequal health care system that perpetuates vast racial disparities in maternal mortality and morbidity. In order to adequately address this crisis, policy solutions must have an intentional focus on Black women and families. Medicaid and other public insurance programs play an important role in ensuring the health of millions—especially expecting and new mothers.

Join us on Monday, November 16 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm ET as Dr. Jamila Taylor, director of health care reform and senior fellow at The Century Foundation, presents new research on the impact of Medicaid coverage loss for mothers. Dr. Taylor will be joined by keynote speakers and panelists specializing in patient-centered care and advocacy to discuss actions to ensure that moms and families have access to the health care and support they need in the sensitive postpartum period.

Please register to obtain the Zoom link.

Featuring:

  • Dr. Jamila Taylor, director of health care reform and senior fellow at The Century Foundation

Keynote Speakers:

  • Tammy Snyder Murphy, First Lady, State of New Jersey
  • Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14)

Introductory Remarks: 

  • Laurie Zephyrin, MD, MPH, MBA, vice president, Health Care Delivery System Reform at The Commonwealth Fund
  • Mark Zuckerman, president, The Century Foundation

Panelists:

  • Arvind K. Goyal, MD, MPH, MBA, Medical director, Illinois Medicaid, Department of Healthcare and Family Services
  • Amber Pendergraph-Leak, mother of four and lead doula at BirthMatters Spartanburg
  • Melissa A. Simon, MD, MPH, George H. Gardner Professor of Clinical Gynecology, vice chair of research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and founder and director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation

Sponsored by The Century Foundation and The Commonwealth Fund.

Speaker Bios

Dr. Jamila Taylor is director of health care reform and senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where she leads TCF’s work to build on the Affordable Care Act and develop the next generation of health reform to achieve high-quality, affordable, and universal coverage in America. A renowned women’s health expert, Taylor also works on issues related to reproductive rights and justice, focusing on the structural barriers to access to health care, racial and gender disparities in health outcomes, and the intersections between health care and economic justice. Throughout her twenty-plus year career, Taylor has championed the health and rights of women both in the U.S. and around the world.

Tammy Snyder Murphy, First Lady, State of New Jersey, has worked with non-profits, a think tank, and other organizations focused on the environment, education, health care, youth and family services, as well as the arts and trans-Atlantic relations. She currently serves as secretary and charter member of The Climate Reality Action Fund, an organization founded by former vice president Al Gore. As First Lady, Tammy’s policy initiatives focus on infant and maternal health, climate change education, and fostering women-owned businesses throughout New Jersey. 

Congresswoman Lauren Underwood serves Illinois’s 14th Congressional District and was sworn into the 116th U.S. Congress on January 3, 2019. Congresswoman Underwood is the first woman, the first person of color, and the first millennial to represent her community in Congress. She is also the youngest African-American woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives. Congresswoman Underwood serves on the House Committee on Education and Labor, the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, and is the vice chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Congresswoman Underwood co-founded and co-chairs the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which elevates the Black maternal health crisis within Congress and advances policy solutions to improve maternal health outcomes and end disparities.

Dr. Laurie Zephyrin is vice president of health care delivery system reform at The Commonwealth Fund. She is driven by a passion to transform health care and advance equity. She brings her experience as a clinician, health policymaker, and intrapreneur to her role at The CMWF to drive delivery system change.

Mark Zuckerman is president of The Century Foundation. He served in the Obama White House as the deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, leading teams on key initiatives, including reducing student debt, increasing accountability at for-profit educational institutions, reducing workplace discrimination, increasing wages for home health care workers, and expanding access to job training. Prior to that, as staff director of the House Education and Labor Committee, he helped win passage of landmark legislation such as the Affordable Care Act; the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act; and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Arvind K. Goyal, MD, MPH, MBA, CPE, FAAFP, FACPM is medical director of Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, where he has clinical oversight of quality, policy and utilization of medical services to 3.1 million Medicaid patients. With Board Certification in Family Medicine, Geriatrics, Preventive Medicine/Public Health, Quality and Management, he teaches medical students at Rosalind Franklin University. While he has been recognized with numerous awards for staunch public health advocacy and community work, and served in multiple professional leadership positions, his numerous failings have provided continual challenges, his strategic thinking, and sense of humor have earned him many friends.

Amber Pendergraph-Leak is the lead doula at BirthMatters in Spartanburg, where she has been a community based doula for over nine years. She is a Spartanburg native, mother of four, and has attained many levels of expertise in her field—in addition to being certified as a doula by DONA International, she is also a certified lactation counselor, a medical assistant, and a certified community health worker. 

Melissa A. Simon, MD, MPH, is the George H. Gardner Professor of Clinical Gynecology, and vice chair of research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is also the founder and director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation. She is an expert in implementation science, women’s health across the lifespan, minority health, community engagement, and health equity. She has been recognized with numerous awards including the Presidential Award in Excellence in Science Mathematics and Engineering Mentorship. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.