People’s to Honor Legislator for Work to Expand Postpartum Care for Texas Women
(AUSTIN, Texas — April 3, 2024) People’s Community Clinic (People’s) will present the 2024 W. Neal Kocurek Award for Health Advocacy to State Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, for her work in passing House Bill 12, extending Medicaid coverage for pregnant women from two months to 12 months after the baby is born. Rep. Rose will be honored during People’s annual “There’s No
Such Thing as a Free Lunch” fundraising event. The event will take place on Monday, May 13, 2024, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (CDT) at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Austin.
Rep. Rose worked for years to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage, finally winning bipartisan support to do so during the 2023 legislative session. The bill was signed into law by the governor in June 2023 and went into effect March 1, 2024. Her work on the passage of House Bill 12 helped to land her on the list of Texas Monthly’s “10 Best Legislators” for the 2023 legislative session.
The luncheon will also feature a keynote panel presentation from Jewel Mullen, M.D., assistant dean at Dell Medical School and former principal deputy assistant secretary for health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Mike Mackert, Ph.D., director of the Center for Health Communications at The University of Texas at Austin. Mullen and Mackert offer a unique perspective on the current health care landscape and the challenges presented.
People’s was founded in 1970 as an all-volunteer free clinic operating from a church basement near The University of Texas. Today, it is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with a budget of over $35 million and a staff of more than 300 serving over 20,000 patients, most of whom live below the federal poverty line. The annual luncheon is a major source of funding for the clinic’s operations and one of the largest community health fundraising events in Travis County.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 4 in 10 births in the U.S. occur within the Medicaid program. The U.S. Congress enacted legislation in 2021 giving states the option of extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from the required 60 days to 12 months. A report by the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Maternal and Mortality Review found that 44% of maternal death cases occurring within one year of pregnancy were pregnancy-related, with 90% of them being preventable. The postpartum phase is recognized as a critical time for the health of the mother and the newborn and an essential time to improve health outcomes and provide a strong start for families.
Currently, 46 states, including the District of Columbia, have implemented Medicaid postpartum coverage extensions.
Rep. Rose is currently serving her sixth term as a member of the Texas House of Representatives. She is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and vice chair of its House Subcommittee of Article II; vice chair of the House Committees on Calendars and Human Services; and member of the House Redistricting Committee and the newly formed House Select Committee on Health Care Reform. She has a long history of public service on numerous city of Dallas boards and commissions and other organizations, including the NAACP, League of Women Voters, and United Negro College Fund. She is a proud alumna of Paul Quinn College.
Her legislative focus includes mental health reform, affordable health care, and criminal justice reform. Over the course of her state legislative service, Rep. Rose has secured hundreds of millions of dollars to fund programs that better the lives of everyday Texans. Her most recent budgetary accomplishments include an additional $102 million for construction of the Texas Behavioral Health Center at UT Southwestern, the new mental health hospital that will serve Dallas-Fort Worth; $6.6 million to provide complimentary breakfast to all Texas public school children who qualify for reduced-price school meals; $120 million for local mental health authorities (LMHAs) to maintain proper staffing levels and address staffing shortages; and $8 million to expand the Healthy Community Collaborative program into all areas of the state. The program is a public-private partnership that provides services for people experiencing homelessness and mental illness.
“Our work of providing care to the underserved in Central Texas would not be possible without the generosity of the individuals and businesses that support us through this luncheon,” said Regina Rogoff, chief executive officer of People’s. “We are excited to host them and to have them join us in honoring Rep. Rose for her leadership, perseverance and success in improving health care for women in our state.”
Press availability with Rep. Rose will occur prior to the event at 10:30 a.m.
For tickets or sponsorship information, click HERE. Members of the media who wish to cover the event may contact Joy Authur (joya@austinpcc.org).
People’s Community Clinic is among the nation’s oldest nonprofit health clinics offering comprehensive health and wellness care to uninsured and underinsured individuals. Its mission is to improve the health of medically underserved and uninsured Central Texans by delivering high-quality, affordable health care with respect and dignity.
For more information, contact: Joy Authur, (512) 684-1722