The below fact sheet was developed by Kids Forward and the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is supported by Raising Wisconsin.
Providing postpartum Medicaid coverage for 12 months will help ensure both parents and babies in Wisconsin thrive together.
Medicaid in Wisconsin helps cover services including:
• Doctor and clinic visits
• Labor and delivery
• Prenatal care
• Prescription drugs
• Dental care
• Mental health and substance use treatment
• Well-Baby services and health care for infants
Providing a full year of postpartum Medicaid coverage means …
• Saving lives. New mothers are at risk of serious health conditions, including postpartum depression, hemorrhage, and cardiomyopathy. Nearly three out of every four pregnancy-related deaths occur postpartum. In Wisconsin, Black mothers are five times more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death than White mothers. Providing 12 months of postpartum coverage would ensure that they have access to the care they need.
• Protecting infants. Extending postpartum coverage also supports more babies seeing their first birthdays. Infant mortality is three times higher for Black children than white children. Babies are more likely to stay on their well-child visit schedule when their parents have the same duration of health care coverage. Providing postpartum coverage for 12 months would help to ensure that more babies can celebrate their first birthday as a healthy and whole child.
• Reducing health care costs. Uninterrupted health care coverage can help to prevent costly emergency department visits and hospitalizations.
• Investing in the future of our state. By giving new parents the support they need, we can help to ensure that our children have a healthy start in life.
Providing postpartum coverage for 12 months is a common-sense policy with support across ideologies that has been implemented in nearly all other states. Without legislative action, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services can only legally provide 60 days’ postpartum care.
Let’s protect the health of our parents and babies and provide postpartum coverage for 12 months.