SC House budget plan includes provision to extend postpartum Medicaid care
About 5,000 new South Carolina mothers who are on Medicaid could see their postpartum health coverage extended under a proposal in the House budget proposal.
Under an amendment pushed by state Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Beaufort, mothers who earn between 67% and 199% of the federal poverty level would be able to keep their postpartum coverage for 12 months. The coverage traditionally ends after 60 days.
“Studies have shown a majority of infant mortality cases occur between days 61 and 365 after a child’s birth,” Herbkersman said.
The amendment was included in the House version of the budget as a proviso, a one-year law attached the state’s annual spending plan.
House members passed their proposed 2021-22 budget June 9. The Senate passed its version of the next fiscal year’s spending plan in April. A group of six lawmakers, three from the House and three from the Senate are working to reconcile the differences in the spending plans for the next fiscal year begins on July 1.
In 2019 the state’s Department of Health and Human Services had previously applied to the federal government to extend Medicaid coverage for pregnant women and those who just gave birth. However, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services only approved a narrower version to provide coverage to new mothers who have been diagnosed with substance use disorder or a serious mental illness and whose income was below 199% of the federal poverty level.
CMS promised to work with the state to authorize extended postpartum coverage for more people.
As part of the federal American Rescue Plan, the COVID-19 relief package signed by President Joe Biden in March, all states have the option to expand postpartum coverage to a year.
“Extending postpartum coverage to one-year postpartum will help improve health outcomes for new mothers as a majority of pregnancy-associated deaths occur more than 60 days after delivery and will remove a disincentive to new mothers returning to work,” said Robby Kerr, the director of SC Health and Human Services.
The American Rescue Plan also included additional incentives for states to expand Medicaid to cover people with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid, but too low to qualify for savings in the health insurance marketplace. However, South Carolina has declined to take that step.
This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 12:24 PM with the headline "SC House budget plan includes provision to extend postpartum Medicaid care."
