A new Mississippi law will allow earlier Medicaid coverage for pregnant women in an effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies in a poor state with the nation’s worst rate of infant mortality.
The “presumptive eligibility” legislation signed Tuesday by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves will become law July 1. It says Medicaid will pay for a pregnant woman’s outpatient medical care for up to 60 days while her application for the government-funded insurance program is being considered.
Processing Medicaid applications can take weeks, and physicians say early prenatal care is vital.
REPUBLICAN-LED MISSISSIPPI HOUSE ADVANCES MEDICAID EXPANSION PROPOSAL, MOVES ON TO SENATE
The advocacy group Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable praised the new law, which passed the Republican-controlled Legislature with bipartisan support.
“This represents a significant step forward in the effort to create better health for women and their families,” the group said in a statement.
Black infants in Mississippi were nearly twice as likely as white ones to die over the past decade, according to a report unveiled Jan. 18 by the state Department of Health.
Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves delivers his State of the State address to the Mississippi State Legislature on Feb. 26, 2024, at the state Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Reeves signed a new law on March 12, 2024, that will allow women to receive Medicaid coverage earlier in pregnancy. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Presumptive Medicaid eligibility during pregnancy would be based on questions about income, asked by health care providers such as county health department workers. If a woman’s Medicaid application is ultimately rejected because her income is too high, Medicaid would still pay for services provided during the time of presumptive eligibility.
House Medicaid Committee Chairwoman Missy McGee, a Republican from Hattiesburg, said the total cost to the Medicaid program will be just under $600,000 a year.
About 41% of…
