WASHINGTON, DC – Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee Chairman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Gregg Harper (R-MS) sent letters yesterday to the Government of the District of Columbia and United Medical Center in Washington, D.C., following a series of questions raised by a December 2017 story in The Washington Post. The story detailed that while the District of Columbia has made strides in reducing maternal mortality, the rates continue to be higher than the national average.

Chairmen Burgess and Harper wrote, “While some progress in reducing infant mortality and improving health care outcomes for mothers and their infants has been made, there is a clear need to improve maternal and infant health in the District of Columbia. It is critical that health care services provided in the Medicaid program are of the highest quality.”

The chairmen continued, “Every Medicaid patient deserves a Medicaid program that meets their critical health needs, providing the right care at the right time. Mothers and their infants should never experience serious adverse or even fatal events due to avoidable failures from stakeholders that compromise the Medicaid safety net.”

#SubHealth Chairman Burgess and #SubOversight Chairman Harper posed 11 questions for both entities, requesting responses within 30 days.