Mississippi is set to extend Medicaid coverage for new mothers, joining a wave of Republican-controlled states that have otherwise opposed a more broad expansion of the health care program.
A bill that would provide postpartum Medicaid coverage for 12 months, rather than 60 days, cleared the state House 89-29 and is headed to the desk of Gov. Tate Reeves (R), who said last week that he would sign it. The Senate previously passed the bill.
Mississippi Republicans took pains to stress that they were not expanding Medicaid eligibility, only extending coverage for people who qualified while they were pregnant. They also presented the measure as a way to show the state’s commitment to protecting the lives of infants and mothers in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling overturning the constitutional right to an abortion.