The panel wants to review those cases, which have been excluded from state data for years, and other reforms amid a report that shows a spike in maternal deaths.

Even excluding deaths related to COVID, Texas’ maternal mortality rate spiked, reversing two years of improvement.

The committee’s chair also raised concerns about the state’s possible departure from a federal system to share data about maternal deaths.

Texas continues to struggle with maternal mortality and morbidity, despite a decade of tracking and reviewing these cases. Four new research centers will pilot innovative solutions.

The law, which takes effect Sept. 1, gives new mothers six months of postpartum Medicaid coverage instead of two. That’s less than many advocates and some lawmakers wanted.

The bill would add an extra four months of health insurance for low-income women, who now get Medicaid coverage from pregnancy until two months after delivery. It now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott for signature.

Maternal health advocates said the bill — originally pitched as a one-year extension — could reduce the state’s maternal mortality rate and offer vital help to mothers grappling with conditions like postpartum depression or health complications in the months after giving birth.