Arkansas' gov says Medicaid extension for new moms isn't needed. Advisers disagree
NPR
SEPTEMBER 13, 202412:18 PM ET
FROM KFF Health News
Six weeks after an emergency cesarean section, with her newborn twins still in neonatal intensive care, Maya Gobara went to a pharmacy in West Little Rock, Arkansas, to fill a prescription.
“The pharmacy told me I didn’t have insurance,” Gobara said.
Arkansas is the only state that has not taken the step to expand what’s called postpartum Medicaid coverage, an option for states paid for almost entirely by the federal government that ensures poor women have uninterrupted health insurance for a year after they give birth. Forty-six states now have the provision, encouraged by the Biden administraion, and Idaho, Iowa, and Wisconsin either have plans in place to enact legislation or have bills pending in their legislatures.
Nationally, 41% of births were covered by Medicaid in 2021. Federal law requires states to provide pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage through 60 days after delivery. But maternal health advocates say Arkansas often begins the process of moving women out of the program after six weeks, or 42 days.
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https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/09/13/nx-s1-5110236/arkansas-medicaid-postpartum-12-months-sarah-huckabee-sanders
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