BOISE, Idaho — Majority Caucus Chair Rep. Megan Blanksma (R-Hammett) pitched House Bill 399 (HB399) in the House Health and Welfare Committee Tuesday to revive an altered version of the previously known Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC).
MMRC met annually to investigate pregnancy-related deaths and severe complications to gain a deeper knowledge of how to improve healthcare systems in Idaho, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW).
MMRC disbanded in July 2023 at the start of a new fiscal year; the original legislation created the committee sunset. Idaho is the only state in the nation without a MMRC, according to House Democratic Leader Rep. Ilana Rubel (D-Boise). Rubel and fellow democrats have been calling for a new MMRC since it disbanded.
However, Republican leadership argues the previous MMRC did not offer a work product to guide legislators and policy-making decisions. The new MMRC - outlined in HB399 - places the MMRC under the Idaho State Board of Medicine.
Previously, the MMRC was independently operating under IDHW.
"We shouldn't be creating committees to create committees. That's not the point. The point is to get the data reviewed so that we can make good policy based upon the data that we're getting," Blanksma said. "It's pretty straight forward."
HB399 explicitly orders the MMRC to, "provide an annual summary report no later than January 31 each year to the legislature..."
The previous MMRC released 4 annual reports; it reviewed 43 pregnancy-related deaths and determined 41 of them were preventable. Former MMRC member and Maternal Fetal Physician Specialist, Dr. Stacy Seyb explained - and defended - the boards body of work to KTVB in July.
"We were establishing a baseline to try and figure out where we were at and were we were going. It's not the kind of work that is reactive. It is trying to put together the trends, find out what are the biggest problems. Investigating to see what needs to be done," Seyb said.
Rubel, while supporting Blanksma's decision to push for the return of an MMRC, wants to hear public testimony before offering her full support to the bill.
"If we're getting to the bottom of why women are dying, and the preventable deaths, and we can address that - it's a good thing," Rubel said. "I suspect she got a lot of political heat for her role in ending that committee last year. So, I'm delighted that she is joining us in supporting the restoration of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee this year."
IDHW collects the data independently of the MMRC, according to Blanksma. Without an MMRC, the data is not lost. Rather, the data is not being analyzed and interpreted.
"And people forget that," Blanksma said.
The bill is subject to discussion at the call of the committee chair.
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