Bill Would Fund Prenatal Outreach Effort

States would be encouraged to send counselors into inner city neighborhoods and rural backwoods and set up “one-stop shopping” centers for poor pregnant women in search of health care under federal legislation introduced Wednesday.

The package is intended to complement recent expansions in Medicaid eligibility that make free health care available for pregnant women with incomes up to 85% above official poverty lines.

While that additional coverage should go a long way toward raising the United States from 19th place among the world’s industrialized nations in infant mortality, Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) said the “information barrier” is another major hindrance.

Japan led with an infant mortality rate of 5.2 deaths per 1,000 births in 1986, the last year that complete figures were available. The United States was 19th with 10.4 deaths per 1,000 births.

Bradley was among several senators and House members present at a news conference who serve as members of the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality.

Former Sen. Lawton Chiles of Florida, chairman of the commission, said the legislation envisions setting aside $100 million for distribution to states for starting outreach programs, setting up telephone hot lines and generally trying to see that every pregnant woman gets prenatal care.