# Understanding the Maternal and Infant Syphilis Prevention Act

This bill addresses a serious and growing public health problem: syphilis cases in the United States have skyrocketed, and babies are being born with the disease at alarming rates. The bill asks the federal government to help states figure out better ways to catch and treat syphilis in pregnant women and newborns through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which cover low-income families.

The numbers tell a troubling story. Syphilis cases in America jumped 80 percent between 2018 and 2022, and congenital syphilis—the disease passed from mother to baby during pregnancy—has exploded from about 350 cases in 2012 to over 3,700 cases in 2022. When a baby is born with syphilis, it can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, severe infections, blindness, deafness, developmental delays, and even death. The good news is that nearly 90 percent of these cases could be prevented with timely testing and treatment during pregnancy. The problem is that different states have different screening requirements, and many don't test pregnant women late enough in pregnancy to catch new infections.

So what does this bill actually do? It requires the federal Department of Health and Human Services to create guidance for states on best practices for screening and treating syphilis in pregnant women and babies covered by Medicaid and CHIP. This guidance would cover expanding access to syphilis testing, educating doctors and pregnant women about the disease, using telehealth services to reach more people, improving testing during the third trimester and at delivery, and improving treatment options. The department would have one year to issue this guidance, and then two years later must report back to Congress on how well states are actually using these recommendations.

This bill doesn't mandate anything or create new programs—it's essentially asking the federal government to provide states with a roadmap of what works best. For pregnant women on Medicaid or CHIP, it could mean better access to testing and treatment. For babies, it could mean preventing a lifetime of serious health problems.