US Democratic presidential hopeful Bloomberg unveils plan to address racial disparity in maternal deaths

WASHINGTON - Michael Bloomberg, US media tycoon and a Democratic presidential contender in the 2020 election, unveiled Monday his plan to address maternal mortality and reduce racial disparity in pregnancy-related deaths.

The plan, announced while the former New York City mayor was campaigning in the state of Alabama, includes such measures as addressing the racial bias among health care providers, standardizing maternal mortality data collection, providing a free, public-option insurance plan, read a statement carried by Bloomberg's campaign site.

Bloomberg's campaign attributed the reason for women of color in Alabama facing disproportionate "risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes" vis-a-vis their white counterparts to the state not having expanded Medicaid under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, a failure it said "leaves out 314,000 people from the program," citing a 2018 study by healthinsurance.org, a health care information provider.

The United States, Bloomberg said, "cannot accept the disgraceful racial inequality in maternal health care that exists in Alabama and across the country."

Also on Monday, Bloomberg tweeted to blame President Donald Trump's administration for "restricting women's access to reproductive & sexual health services, & worsening the disparities in care between white & African American women."

A centrist considered to be friendly to business, Bloomberg announced his bid for the presidency in late November. According to media reports, he has spent about $120 million on campaign ads so far.