Health Care
WASHINGTON – During Black Maternal Health Week, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) today applauded the Biden Administration for approving and signing Illinois' 1115 waiver, which will extend health care coverage for new moms on Medicaid in Illinois from 60 days after pregnancy to a full year.
Black and Latino communities throughout the U.S. have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, and health experts say the federal government needs to have a plan to distribute vaccines in these communities.
Several years after the city cracked down on Southeast Side facilities for releasing black clouds of lung-damaging petroleum coke into surrounding neighborhoods, a new federal bill aims to set in motion the first comprehensive study on the health and environmental impacts of the pollutant.
A bill introduced in Congress on Monday would require the federal government to examine potential health risks from exposure to petroleum coke, or petcoke, a solid byproduct of the oil refining process that had for years been stored in uncontained piles along the Calumet River.
The following links related to federal and state grants are for Federally Qualified Health Centers and non-profit agencies in the health and wellness fields:
http://www.hhs.gov/grants/
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/hhsgrantsforecast/
http://www.dhs.state.il.us/grants/gas/
Access to affordable and high-quality health care is one of the most important and challenging issues facing Illinois families. The health inequities laid bare by COVID-19 have shown that lack of access to health care can have devastating outcomes. In Congress, I'm working to ensure that racial and ethnically diverse communities, as well rural and urban communities, have access to affordable health care because health care is a human right.
South suburban health care professionals and advocates are welcoming word that COVID-19 vaccines could be available for public use by the end of the year, but they worry many in communities of color won't take a vaccine when one is available.
A House bill introduced Wednesday would expand the amount of time that new moms could remain on Medicaid, in an effort to reduce the number of pregnancy or childbirth-related deaths.
"Too many mothers have died already," said Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., who introduced the legislation. "Too many kids are growing up without a mother. Too many families are living a nightmare that doesn't end."
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Robin L. Kelly (D-IL) and Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Co-Chairs of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Racial Equity Working Group, today hosted a press conference to announce a priority list of more than 40 bills aimed to deliver meaningful strides in advancing racial equity within healthcare, broadband access, environmental justice, and other areas where communities of color face the greatest inequities. |
WASHINGTON, DC — Last night, the House overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan Action for Dental Health Act (H.R. 2422), co-authored by Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust Chair, Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL), and Congressman and dentist Mike Simpson (R-ID). It received 387 yes votes.