JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri lawmakers are set to consider plans to extend Medicaid coverage for new moms and their babies after a similar idea fell short earlier this year.
Five bills have been introduced in the Missouri House that would extend insurance coverage for low-income mothers from a current 60 days after giving birth to 12 months.
Two other versions have been introduced in the Senate.
“We’ve got low-income women having babies and we need to see that both the mother and the child can have the best care after the baby is born,” said Sen. Elaine Gannon, a Jefferson County Republican who is sponsoring one of the measures. “We’re talking about people’s lives here.”
Among the House sponsors is Rep. Jon Patterson, a Lee’s Summit physician who has gained new clout under the Capitol dome after he was elected by his fellow Republicans as majority leader in the chamber.
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The concept also could take on new significance now that nearly all abortions are outlawed in Missouri after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
“I’m not an advocate of growing government. But at the same time, with the changes that have been made in our state and in the nation, I think we need to look at is how can we support these mothers and children,” said Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, who introduced one of the versions.
“I’m pro-life,” Pollitt said. “But I also believe that we have to have institutional programs that help in those situations.”
The Department of Health and Senior Services found an average of 61 women died each year between 2017 and 2019 while they were pregnant or within a year of their pregnancies.
Three out of every four pregnancy-related deaths were preventable, the report said.
The risk of pregnancy-related death for Black women was more than three times as high as the risk for white women, the report found.
The state also tracked when women were dying, finding that the “greatest proportion of pregnancy-related deaths occurred between 43 days and one year after pregnancy” — meaning many deaths occurred after the state’s 60-day cutoff for Medicaid coverage.
An estimated 4,565 women would have coverage extended if the bill passed. The proposal could cost $10.7 million by 2025, a legislative analysis of last year’s legislation noted.
Gannon shepherded the extension through the Missouri Senate in the spring, but it was derailed by other provisions in the measure.
For example, the proposal was paired with a provision that would make it legal to give away free needles to drug users in order to ensure they don’t catch or pass along infectious diseases.
Some conservative Republicans balked at the needle exchange idea and an attempt to separate the two issues failed.
Gannon said the legislation is one of her priorities for the upcoming session. She downplayed the potential cost.
“If we can save babies and mothers, then it’s worth every cent it’s going to take to make this happen” Gannon said. “We’re going to get that across the finish line this year.”
Other sponsors of bills for 2023 include Sen.-elect Tracy McCreery, who had called the legislation “a priority” during her successful race against Dr. George Hruza, a Republican, on Nov. 8.
Both chambers begin their 2023 session on Jan. 4.
