March of Dimes Makes Plea for Universal Medical Insurance Coverage

The senior vice president of the March of Dimes, Dr. Marina L. Weiss, recently made a plea to the Senate Committee on Finance on behalf of all women of childbearing age. Backed with a number of staggering statistics, Dr. Weiss asked the Senate Committee to consider offering Universal Coverage for women of childbearing age.

According to Dr. Weiss, a 2005 Census conducted by the March of Dimes found that approximately 28% if women of childbearing age were uninsured. In addition, their data indicated that the number of women of childbearing age that are uninsured has risen steadily since 2002. In that year, 12.1 million were uninsured while 12.9 million found themselves without coverage in 2005.

“The Foundation's mission to prevent birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality can best be fulfilled if women of childbearing age have the health coverage that enables them to receive essential health services when they need them.” – Dr. Marina L. Weiss, March of Dimes Senior Vice President

The fact that so many women of childbearing age is particularly alarming to the March of Dimes because the Institute of Medicine has reported that women who are uninsured tend to receive less prenatal services. Of course, the less prenatal services a woman has, the more likely she is to experience complications during her pregnancy.

Since the mission of the March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing premature birth, birth defects, and infant mortality, providing universal coverage seems like a logical first step toward achieving this goal.