“Everyone deserves a healthy start from their very first breath, and that they can be free from the racism that has taken the lives of too many moms and babies for too long, so we will right the wrongs of the past and ensure that every mom and baby gets first-rate care…a state that understands their challenges…and finally eradicate this insidious form of racism, which has plagued our state for far too long. We’re not going to lose any mother or any baby because of the color of their skin.”
Those words came directly from Governor Kathy Hochul’s lips this month. She was speaking about the infant and maternal mortality crisis that is plaguing people of color in New York. And she is absolutely right. That is why it is so important that the governor sign the Grieving Families Act that the New York State Legislature passed in June with overwhelming, bipartisan support.
Black infant and maternal mortality is an epidemic. And it is entirely preventable.
The problem is racism and discrepancies in the quality of healthcare, not lifestyle choices or genetics, as has long been implied. Just this month, the National Center for Health Statistics released new data showing the first increase in infant mortality in two decades, with the rate for Black babies the highest of them all.
This is disturbing, but it also means that correcting the problem does not require some new cutting-edge scientific breakthrough. It simply requires us to correct behavior.
Signing the Grieving Families Act into law is critical to that effort. New York’s 175-year-old wrongful death law says jurors in civil trials are only permitted to consider economic loss. That means in the eyes of our state, a person is worth only what they earn for a living. In other words, the lives of children, seniors, disabled people, and low-income workers are worth less in New York State than the lives of corporate executives and other wealthy individuals.
The Grieving Families Act would allow jurors to consider the grief and anguish of family members who suffer the loss of a loved one. Beyond providing these family members with the justice they deserve, this also creates a needed mechanism to deter bad and negligent behavior.
Currently, if an infant or a mother of modest means dies in New York as a result of malpractice, the consequences for the hospital and healthcare providers are minimal. Creating a mechanism to hold hospitals accountable through steeper financial penalties will encourage hospitals to enhance their patient safety protocols.
The insurance lobby has been fear-mongering about the impact they say this will have on the premiums they charge medical providers—but they are only looking out for their bottom line. The fact is that hospitals simply will not risk having to pay potentially catastrophic damages; instead, they will correct their behavior. Studies have proven this [link to Columbia-Presbyterian patient safety study].
After Illinois allowed wrongful death damages for grief, sorrow, and mental suffering in May 2007, the losses incurred by medical providers dropped by 17% while the premiums providers paid declined 18%, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Over the same period, losses incurred by medical providers in New York due to wrongful death lawsuits increased by 4%.
I applaud Governor Hochul for bringing additional attention to the infant and maternal mortality crisis that so many of us have been sounding the alarm about for years. But if she truly wants to be part of the solution and create a New York that values all lives equally, she will sign the Grieving Families Act.