Mississippi considers longer postpartum Medicaid coverage

By LEAH WILLINGHAM

Associated Press/Report for America

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi legislators are trying to improve the health of new mothers and their babies by allowing women who are enrolled in Medicaid to keep that coverage for up to a year after giving birth.

That’s an increase from the current limit of 60 days. Medicaid Committee Chairman Kevin Blackwell said Mississippi needs to bring down its infant and maternal fatality rates.

Mississippi has the highest rate of infant deaths in the country. The Mississippi Division of Medicaid has temporarily extended coverage to postpartum women who enrolled in Medicaid while pregnant with no time limit.

That change was a condition of federal COVID-19 relief funding.