Health Affairs August 2, 2024
The postpartum period is a critical stage for birthing people and their newborns. More than half of pregnancy-related deaths occur during the 12-month postpartum period, with 12 percent occurring after six weeks postpartum. Laudably, recent legislation has enabled an unprecedented expansion of pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage to continuously cover the full 12-month postpartum period from the previously required 60 days. Given that Medicaid pays for more than 41 percent of births nationwide, Medicaid postpartum extensions mark significant progress toward improved access to maternal health care in the United States. However, these extensions currently ring hollow for millions of pregnant immigrants who are ineligible because of nuances in state pregnancy-related Medicaid policy. Immigrant exclusions are acutely relevant to current policy debates around...
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