How to get more low-income moms screened for depression? CMS says, ‘Bill me!’ [CenterForHealthJournalism.com]

Among policymakers, growing recognition of the problem has translated into new programs, with a number of states encouraging screenings and treatment. (New Jersey has required it since 2006.) The Affordable Care Act provided a tailwind as well by requiring insurance coverage and seeding new programs and research. Then, in January, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force issued new recommendations that called for women to be screened for depression while pregnant and after giving birth. The updated guidelines rested on an extensive review of the research.

And yet many of the mothers who might benefit most from screenings — low-income women, in particular — don’t receive them. “Depression is a particularly serious problem for low-income mothers, since it can create two generations of suffering, for the mother and her children,” the Urban Institute has noted. Depressed mothers can’t stimulate and nurture their child the way they otherwise could, and that can hinder babies’ rapidly developing brains.