Maternal & Early Childhood Health
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Medicaid Pregnancy Coverage Fills a Critical Health Insurance Gap During Pandemic, Data Shows
Among all the Medicaid beneficiaries who’ve had their health coverage protected through the COVID-19 public health emergency, pregnant women stand out, new data released from CMS show.[note]Editor’s note: To maintain accuracy, CCF uses the term “women” when referencing statute, regulations, research, or other data sources that use the term “women” to define or count people…
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More States Make Progress on Extending Postpartum Medicaid Coverage
The 2022 state legislative season is nearing its end in the coming weeks, and this year we’ve continued to see significant efforts in a broad range of states working to extend the Medicaid postpartum coverage from the current cutoff of just 60 days to a full 12 months after the end of the pregnancy. Regular…
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Increase in Maternal Mortality During COVID Underscores Need for Policy Changes
The rate of women who died during pregnancy or shortly after birth increased significantly during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data from the National Center for Health Statistics, and Black women continued to experience maternal death at rates more than twice the national average. In 2020, there were 861 women…
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Outreach for Pregnant People Included in Latest CMS Grant Funding Opportunity
CMS recently announced $49.4 million in outreach grants available to connect eligible children and parents to Medicaid and CHIP coverage, and for the first time, specifically included outreach to pregnant people as one of the target groups. This is an important step, both for reaching eligible but uninsured pregnant people, and for facilitating access to…
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CMS Commits $49 Million to Connect Kids, Parents, and Pregnant People to Coverage
A wide range of organizations, including state/local governments, tribal entities, safety net providers, non-profits, schools, and others, may apply for up to $1.5 million over three years to connect eligible people to Medicaid or CHIP under a new CMS funding opportunity. A total of $49.4 million in funding will build on efforts initiated by the…
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More from CMS on Postpartum Coverage: FAQs and New State Data
It seems that every week brings a new development in the movement to extend postpartum coverage for 12 months, and this week was no different. On Wednesday, CMS added a “frequently asked questions” section to the extended postpartum coverage option guidance issued on December 7 (see page 14). The agency also released state-specific data on…
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Lessons Learned from Early State Experiences Using Medicaid to Expand Access to Doula Care
The United States is currently experiencing a maternal health crisis, but it’s pregnant people of color who experience its worst effects: Black women, American Indian, and Alaska Native women are up to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women and are also more likely to experience severe complications from pregnancy…
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CMS Issues Guidance on New Postpartum Coverage State Option in Medicaid and CHIP
Today CMS released highly anticipated guidance to states implementing the new Medicaid and CHIP state plan option to provide 12 months of extended postpartum coverage to pregnant individuals enrolled in Medicaid beginning April 1, 2022. Created by the American Rescue Plan Act passed earlier this year, this policy option has been widely embraced by states…
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Build Back Better Act: Health Coverage Provisions Explained
On November 19, 2021, the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act, the budget reconciliation bill, with the Senate expected to consider the legislation in coming weeks. The Build Back Better Act includes numerous provisions that would dramatically strengthen and expand both public and private health insurance coverage. Some of the new provisions…
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Maternal Health Home Option in Build Back Better Plan Lays Groundwork for Two-Generation Success
Released in late October, the most recent House text of the Build Back Better plan included an exciting late addition: a new Medicaid pathway to incentivize high-quality, team-based care for pregnant and postpartum people. The new state option provides a temporary enhanced match to develop and grow practices to comprehensively anticipate and coordinate care needs,…
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HHS Secretary Becerra Approves New Jersey Waiver Request to Extend Postpartum Medicaid Coverage
New mothers covered by Medicaid and CHIP in New Jersey will now be able to stay enrolled for one year after the end of pregnancy under a Medicaid Section 1115 waiver approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The state will extend postpartum coverage for individuals from the state’s current pregnancy coverage cutoff at…
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Maternal Depression and Medicaid Policy Solutions Highlighted in Special Issue of Health Affairs
About one in five pregnant and postpartum people are diagnosed with mental health conditions each year, and a new research finding adds to the growing body of evidence that sustained Medicaid coverage before, during, and after pregnancy can help. Medicaid expansion was associated with a 16 percent decline in self-reported pre-pregnancy depression and the improvements…
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Congressional Proposals to Address the Maternal Health Crisis Offer a Promising Roadmap for Change
By: Kay Johnson, MEd, MPH and Laurie Zephyrin, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. Maternal health and maternal mortality are the subject of more than three dozen bills introduced in the first six months of the 117th Congress, and many of their provisions were included in the House reconciliation package currently under consideration. Building on proposals in the…
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New Toolkit Highlights ARPA Funding Opportunities for Maternal and Early Childhood Health Priorities
The American Rescue Plan made billions available for state and local governments to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including significant investments in programs that support children and families. The National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers (BUILD) recently released an important new toolkit to help state advocates and policymakers make sense of funding opportunities through the…
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One Year of Postpartum Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Included in House Budget Reconciliation Plan
An important policy change to advance maternal health equity secured a spot in the Build Back Better Act, the budget reconciliation legislation currently under consideration in Congress. Pregnant people covered by Medicaid and CHIP would receive a full year of postpartum coverage, regardless of which state they live in. The bill requires that all states…
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Medicaid Expansion Narrows Maternal Health Coverage Gaps, But Racial Disparities Persist
Introduction The United States is experiencing a maternal mortality crisis and has the highest maternal mortality rate of any industrialized country in the world.8 In 2019, more than 750 women died of maternal causes in the United States while pregnant or within 42 days after the end of pregnancy, data from the Centers for Disease…
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Federal and State Policymakers Must Address Alarmingly High Maternal Mortality Rates and Racial Disparities
The United States has an unacceptably high maternal mortality rate and it is getting worse. The latest data from the CDC shows that maternal mortality increased significantly between 2018 and 2019, topping out at the highest recorded rate since the agency began tracking the rate more than 30 years ago. A country’s maternal mortality rate…
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States Try New Approaches to Improve Maternal and Infant Health
Maternal morbidity and mortality are ongoing crises in the US. Every year, 50,000 women experience serious complications following birth. These complications can be a result of health conditions experienced before and during pregnancy, and women of color have disproportionately high maternal morbidity rates. Policymakers have begun to take action to address this problem. As we…
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Where States Stand on Extended Postpartum Medicaid Coverage
Since the American Rescue Plan passed in March, we’ve been closely following state decisions to take up the important new Medicaid state plan option that allows states to extend postpartum Medicaid and CHIP coverage for 12 months after the end of the pregnancy, well beyond the current federal cutoff of just 60 days postpartum. Because…
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More States Moving to Extend Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Option Under ARP, Why Are Georgia and Missouri Limiting Its Reach?
Extending postpartum coverage continues to be a hot topic in state legislatures, in Congress, and in the Biden Administration. As my colleagues shared in a blog last week, CMS recently approved Section 1115 demonstration waivers in Georgia and Missouri that extend postpartum benefits to at least some pregnant people. While a step forward, the approvals…
