States are now able to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage for a year, with Louisiana being the first to take up the new expansion.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Friday that states can now seek to extend coverage approved under the American Rescue Plan passed last year. States will have the additional coverage for five years.
“Having postpartum care can be life-saving and lead to better long-term health outcomes for new patients and newborns,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement.
Louisiana is the first state to offer the extended coverage, which will reach an estimated 14,000 people, CMS said. Several states have already gotten approval via a separate waiver from CMS.
The agency is also working with nine other states to extend postpartum coverage.
“In order to receive federal funds and to ensure consistency with federal standards, including those set by the ARP, states must go through a formal process run by CMS,” the agency said.
Currently, the postpartum coverage period ends after 60 days for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Any state that wants to expand coverage to 12 months must extend it to both Medicaid and CHIP.
“States like Louisiana that adopt the new extended postpartum coverage must provide coverage to all eligible individuals who were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP while they were pregnant,” CMS said. “This extended coverage period will last from the day the pregnancy ends through the end of the month in which their 12-month postpartum period ends.”