2021 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 208
BY SENATOR PETERSON
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to develop and submit to the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services an amendment to the Medicaid state
plan on or before April 1, 2022, allowing for postpartum Medicaid coverage for
twelve months after birth for eligible pregnant individuals who qualify under the
state's Medicaid plan in furtherance of House Bill No. 468 of the 2021 Regular
Session.
WHEREAS, in the state of the Louisiana, postpartum Medicaid coverage is
guaranteed for sixty days after the delivery of a newborn child; and
WHEREAS, statistics show that most life-threatening complications for new mothers
occur up to one year after giving birth; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana has one of the highest maternal death rates in the country
with black and brown women experiencing pregnancy-related deaths at three times the rate
of pregnancy-related deaths experienced by white women; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana is one of eight states that received an "F" on the March of
Dimes Report Card; and
WHEREAS, more than half of childbirths in Louisiana are covered by Medicaid; and
WHEREAS, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
people who give birth while covered by Medicaid are more at risk for maternal morbidity
and mortality with seventy percent of women identifying health issues after birth; and
WHEREAS, two-thirds of pregnancy-associated mortality occur between forty-three
days postpartum to one year after delivery; and
WHEREAS, for every one maternal death, there are seventy maternal women who
experience morbidity events, which are illnesses or disabilities that can shorten their life
expectancies; and
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WHEREAS, according to the National Institutes of Health, the cost of each severe
maternal morbidity event is more than eleven thousand dollars; and
WHEREAS, in just one Louisiana hospital, the annual cost of Medicaid readmissions
for postpartum health issues was over eight hundred seventy thousand dollars in 2020; and
WHEREAS, the cost of expanding Medicaid for twelve months after childbirth is
significantly less than the monetary and social costs of the medical issues that occur due to
lack of preventive care; and
WHEREAS, improving access to Medicaid through postpartum expansion has been
associated with a fifty percent increase in the use of outpatient care, particularly for women
with severe maternal morbidity; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana can protect the reproductive health of women, reduce
readmissions, reduce maternal morbidity events, and reduce maternal mortality by expanding
Medicaid postpartum coverage to twelve months after childbirth; and
WHEREAS, maternal health should be a priority for our state because it would
reduce costs and improve the quality of life for our Louisiana families in the long term.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request that the Louisiana Department of Health submit to the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services an amendment to the Medicaid state plan on or before
April 1, 2022, allowing for postpartum Medicaid coverage for twelve months after birth for
eligible pregnant individuals who qualify under the state's Medicaid state plan as outlined
by guidance provided as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Public Law 117-2.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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