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Bipartisan legislation would extend Medicaid benefits for new mothers
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – House Democrats plan to fight for bipartisan legislation to curb Missouri’s high rates of maternal mortality without additional stipulations added in the Senate that jeopardize the bill.
The original versions of Senate Bills 45 and 90, sponsored by state Sens. Elaine Gannon, R-De Soto, and Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, would have extended postpartum MO HealthNet benefits to one year after giving birth, a significant increase from its current period of just two months. Though the bill passed out of the Senate last week, members of the chamber’s “conservative caucus” added amendments that likely render the legislation useless as they violate federal rules.
As a result, just under 4,600 Missouri women a year will not receive benefits and preventative care during a crucial period after pregnancy that sees the highest rates of maternal death.
However, the House Emerging Issues committee passed a version of the bill without the problematic language Tuesday afternoon. It combined language from Democratic state Rep. LaKeySha Bosley and Republican Reps. Brad Pollitt, Melanie Stinnett and Bishop Davidson. Bosley said the bill was vital because Missouri has the seventh highest rate of maternal mortality in the United States, and Black women are four times more likely to die during childbirth than white women in the state.
“Extending postpartum coverage and access to care has proven to lower the rate of maternal mortality,” Bosley, D-St. Louis, said. “Passing this incredibly simple language out of the House — without any changes — will save lives and make it so fewer babies lose their mothers in that first year of their lives.”
According to a 2022 report on pregnancy-associated mortality from the Department of Health and Senior Services, an average of 61 women across the state died from 2017 to 2019 while pregnant or within one year of being pregnant. The report also found that most of those deaths — roughly 75 percent — were preventable, and the greatest proportion of those deaths occurred between 43 days and one year after birth.
As a result of these findings, the report recommended that the legislature should “extend Medicaid coverage to one year postpartum for all conditions… to aid women whose condition is exacerbated in the postpartum period.” Gov. Mike Parson even made it a top priority in his State of the State speech in January.
State Rep. Patty Lewis, D-Kansas City, who also had a bill heard in committee that would extend postpartum benefits, sees a path forward for this language — unimpeded by potentially damaging amendments.
“We know that the governor, DHSS and most lawmakers approve extending these benefits without strings attached, so we have to do our due diligence in the House to keep this legislation clean,” Lewis said. “We know we cannot solve every problem in our state with the flip of a switch, but providing these benefits during this time frame will go a long way to saving the lives of Missouri mothers.”
Bosley’s bill is House Bill 957 (now combined with HBs 254, 354 and 965), and Lewis’ bill is House Bill 286.
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