Bill to expand Medicaid benefits for mothers dies in Mississippi house

by

kobee vance

• Published on March 10, 2022 • Comments

House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, addresses lawmakers in the body's chamber at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., on March 3, 2022. Gunn and House Medicaid Committee Chairman Joey Hood, R-Ackerman, chose not to bring up a bill that would have let mothers keep Medicaid coverage for a year after giving birth, up from two months now allowed, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Wednesday was the deadline for House and Senate committees to consider general bills that had already passed the other chamber.
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

A bill that would have extended Medicaid benefits for Mississippi mothers has died on the legislative calendar. The bill had bipartisan support, but leadership chose to not bring up the measure on the House floor.

LISTEN HERE

Senate Bill 2033 would have extended postpartum Medicaid benefits for up to 12 months for mothers in Mississippi. The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 46 to 5, and also cleared the House Medicaid committee. Dr. Anita Henderson, President of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, says mothers are only covered by Medicaid up to 60 days after birth. She says expanding access could reduce the state’s maternal and infant mortality rates.

“And we were very supportive of this bill,” says Dr. Henderson. “Pediatricians, family practice doctors, obstetricians, the entire medical community is very supportive of this bill because we know that healthy moms are more likely to have healthy babies. So we know that this bill would have improved the health of moms and babies in Mississippi.”

The decision to kill the bill was made by House Medicaid Chair Joey Hood, and Speaker of the House Phillip Gunn. Gunn told the Associated Press that he is opposed to expanding Medicaid in the state. Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney says even though his office is not directly linked to Medicaid, he says the issue of health coverage for mothers who have recently given birth is essential.

Chaney says “I think that’s pretty dadgum important for the state because we already do that to some level with the state health plan and we need to extend it to the Medicaid side. And generally, the people that are on Medicaid are usually very young folks that are in the childbearing age. And they need to be healthy.”

Another bill that died on the House calendar would have established a Department of Tourism in Mississippi.