Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced Idaho’s extension of comprehensive coverage for postpartum women for a full 12 months through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Idaho’s approval marks 48 states, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands that have extended postpartum coverage, thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Rescue Plan. As a result of today’s approval, an additional 8,000 people in Idaho will be eligible for Medicaid and CHIP coverage for an entire year after pregnancy. Medicaid covers 41% of all births in the nation and more than half of all children in the country.

Today’s announcement marks unparalleled progress in implementing the CMS Maternity Care Action Plan, which supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s Maternal Health Blueprint, a comprehensive strategy to improve maternal health, particularly in underserved communities. Idaho is the 48th state to be approved for the extended coverage, made possible by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, and made permanent by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which President Biden signed into law in December 2022. This option for states to extend Medicaid and CHIP postpartum coverage is part of robust efforts through the Department of Health and Human Services and the Biden-Harris Administration to address disparities in maternal health outcomes by opening the door to postpartum care for hundreds of thousands of people. 

Under this option, states may extend postpartum coverage through Medicaid and CHIP from the current mandatory 60-day period to 12 months. Idaho is the most recent state to extend Medicaid and CHIP coverage to 12 months following pregnancy, joining Alabama; Alaska; Arizona; California; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Hawaii; Iowa, Illinois; Indiana; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Mississippi; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; Nevada; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; the U.S. Virgin Islands; Utah; Vermont; Virginia; Washington; Washington, D.C.; West Virginia; and Wyoming.

States expanding postpartum coverage is especially crucial because maternal mortality rates show that in 2022, 817 women died of maternal causes in the United States. One in three pregnancy-related deaths occurs between six weeks and one year after childbirth. The postpartum period is critical for recovering from childbirth, addressing complications of delivery, ensuring mental health, managing infant care, and transitioning from obstetric to primary care.