Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Missouri, Mississippi Advance Bills To Expand Postpartum Medicaid Benefits
AP: Mississippi House Panel OKs Longer Medicaid After Births
A Mississippi House committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would provide women with a full year of Medicaid coverage after giving birth, just days after Republican Gov. Tate Reeves voiced his support for the measure. The bill passed the House Medicaid Committee on a voice vote, with some opposition. (Pettus, 2/28)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri House Panel Advances ‘Clean’ Maternal Mortality Measure
A House panel Tuesday moved to expand Medicaid coverage for low-income mothers and their babies without Senate language that could otherwise endanger federal approval of the long-sought extension. A week after the Senate approved a plan to offer health insurance coverage to moms and babies for 12 months after a pregnancy, the House Emerging Issues Committee voted unanimously to forward their version of the bill to the full House. The key difference in the two is the lack of provisions that would bar women who have abortions from receiving the extended benefits. (Erickson, 2/28)
The Hill: These States Have Extended Medicaid Coverage For New Mothers
There have been 28 states that have adopted and implemented the Medicaid postpartum coverage extension thus far, which is available to states for five years. The list includes Republican states that did not even adopt the Medicaid expansion offered in the Affordable Care Act, such as Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, South Carolina and Tennessee. (Neukam, 2/28)
More Medicaid developments —
Chicago Tribune: As Many As 700,000 Illinois Residents Could Lose Medicaid Health Coverage This Year
Jose Salmeron doesn’t want to think about what would happen if he lost his Medicaid coverage. The 70-year-old Cicero resident has been on the state and federally funded health insurance program, which is for people with low incomes and disabilities, for years. It covered him when he had heart surgery in 2015 and helps to pay for his ongoing care. “I would not have access to medical services,” Salmeron said in Spanish, of if he lost Medicaid coverage. He’s also on Medicare because of his age, but Medicaid helps cover many costs that might otherwise be out-of-pocket and unaffordable for him. “What would I do?” (Schencker, 2/28)
12news.com: Many Arizonans Could Soon Lose Medicaid Coverage
Arizona will soon determine who among the 2.5 million residents enrolled in the state's Medicaid programs are still eligible for the low-cost health coverage. Starting April 1, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System will begin disenrolling Medicaid members who are no longer eligible for the program. (Reagan and Dana, 2/27)
CBS Pittsburgh: 3 Million Pennsylvanians Need To Renew Medicaid Eligibility To Continue State-Sponsored Health Insurance
Three million Pennsylvanians on Medicaid during the pandemic will have to reapply for continued coverage beginning April 1. (Delano, 2/28)
KHN: Idaho Dropped Thousands From Medicaid In The Pandemic’s First Years
During the first two years of the covid-19 pandemic, while the federal government was trying to prevent people on Medicaid from losing health coverage, Idaho dropped nearly 10,000 people from the safety-net program. Federal law generally banned states from dropping people, and federal officials said Idaho acted improperly. Idaho officials, however, said they didn’t think they did anything wrong. (Pradhan, 3/1)
