Medicaid would be extended for new moms under an NC budget proposal, lawmaker says
North Carolina would extend Medicaid coverage to new mothers for a full year after delivery under a provision that state Senate Republicans are expected to include in the budget they’re about to propose.
Women with incomes at or below a designated level are currently eligible for Medicaid in the state when they are pregnant and up to 60 days after birth. This extension would be implemented in April 2022.
Asked about the measure being included in the Senate budget proposal that will be released in the coming days, Sen. Jim Burgin, a Republican from Harnett County, told The News & Observer: “That’s our plan.”
Still, anything could change between now and when senators release their budget proposal. Pat Ryan, a spokesperson for Senate leader Phil Berger, said Wednesday he couldn’t comment on anything that may or may not be in the proposal.
It’s a mini version of Medicaid expansion, the much larger boost in government health insurance that Republican lawmakers have so far declined to pass as other red states have in recent years.
While the proposal isn’t the full Medicaid expansion Gov. Roy Cooper and North Carolina Democrats hope for, it’s supported by some Democrats and at least seven major health care organizations, including the North Carolina Medical Society and the NC Obstetrical and Gynecological Association.
Those groups issued a press release June 10 praising a separate bill sponsored by Burgin that would have implemented the same change.
In their backing of the bill, the groups have cited research showing insurance coverage for postpartum mothers improves both maternal and infant outcomes.
North Carolina ranked just below the national average in its maternal mortality rate, according to a 2019 release of America’s Health Rankings data.
This expansion would benefit women of color and immigrant women, the groups say, who have higher maternal mortality rates.
That bill has yet to be heard in relevant committees that could advance it, but the language included in that bill will likely be incorporated into the budget, Burgin said. Additional details will not be made public until the full budget is released, likely next week.
North Carolina lawmakers still have time to pass full Medicaid expansion, though House and Senate budget writers have agreed not to include it in their individual budgets.
In April, The News & Observer reported Democrats were still holding out hope that this could be the year state Republicans join 39 other states in passing expansion, as the federal American Rescue Plan offers additional incentive for states to do so.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 4:56 PM.
