HLS 21RS-3852 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 193
BY REPRESENTATIVE LANDRY
MEDICAID: Requests La. Dept. of Health to amend the Medicaid state plan to allow for
postpartum Medicaid coverage for 12 months after childbirth for certain pregnant
individuals
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to develop and submit to the
3 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services an amendment to the Medicaid state
4 plan on or before April 1, 2022, allowing for postpartum Medicaid coverage for
5 twelve months after birth for eligible pregnant individuals who qualify under the
6 state's Medicaid plan in furtherance of House Bill No. 468 of the 2021 Regular
7 Session.
8 WHEREAS, in the state of the Louisiana, postpartum Medicaid coverage is
9guaranteed for sixty days after the delivery of a newborn child; and
10 WHEREAS, statistics show that most life-threatening complications for new mothers
11occur up to one year after giving birth; and
12 WHEREAS, Louisiana has one of the highest maternal death rates in the country
13with black and brown women experiencing pregnancy-related deaths at three times the rate
14of pregnancy-related deaths experienced by white women; and
15 WHEREAS, Louisiana is one of eight states that received an "F" on the March of
16Dimes Report Card; and
17 WHEREAS, more than half of childbirths in Louisiana are covered by Medicaid; and
18 WHEREAS, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
19people who give birth while covered by Medicaid are more at risk for maternal morbidity
20and mortality with seventy percent of women identifying health issues after birth; and
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HR NO. 193
1 WHEREAS, two-thirds of pregnancy-associated mortality occur between forty-three
2days postpartum to one year after delivery; and
3 WHEREAS, for every one maternal death, there are seventy maternal women who
4experience morbidity events, which are illnesses or disabilities that can shorten their life
5expectancy; and
6 WHEREAS, according to the National Institutes of Health, the cost of each severe
7maternal morbidity event is more than eleven thousand dollars; and
8 WHEREAS, in just one Louisiana hospital, the annual cost of Medicaid readmissions
9for postpartum health issues was over eight hundred seventy thousand dollars in 2020; and
10 WHEREAS, the cost of expanding Medicaid for twelve months after childbirth is
11significantly less than the monetary and social costs of the medical issues that occur due to
12lack of preventive care; and
13 WHEREAS, improving access to Medicaid through postpartum expansion has been
14associated with a fifty percent increase in the use of outpatient care, particularly for women
15with severe maternal morbidity; and
16 WHEREAS, Louisiana can protect the reproductive health of women, reduce
17readmissions, reduce maternal morbidity events, and reduce maternal mortality by expanding
18Medicaid postpartum coverage to twelve months after childbirth; and
19 WHEREAS, maternal health should be a priority for our state because it would
20reduce costs and improve the quality of life for our Louisiana families in the long term.
21 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
22Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request that the Louisiana Department of
23Health submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services an amendment to the
24Medicaid state plan on or before April 1, 2022, allowing for postpartum Medicaid coverage
25for twelve months after birth for eligible pregnant individuals who qualify under the state's
26Medicaid state plan as outlined by guidance provided as part of the American Rescue Plan
27Act of 2021, Public Law 117-2.
28 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
29secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
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HR NO. 193
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 193 Original 2021 Regular Session Landry
Requests that the Louisiana Department of Health submit to the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services an amendment to allow for postpartum coverage for twelve months after
childbirth. Requests that the Louisiana Department of Health submit the amendment on or
before April 1, 2022.
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