SLS 23RS-2252 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 145
BY SENATOR DUPLESSIS
MEDICAID. Urges and requests the Louisiana Department of Health to amend the state
Medicaid plan to extend pregnancy coverage to individuals at or below 185% of the federal
poverty level.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to apply, on or before
3 September 30, 2023, to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for an
4 amendment to the state Medicaid plan to extend the income eligibility criteria for
5 Medicaid coverage for pregnant individuals to one hundred eighty-five percent of the
6 federal poverty level or below.
7 WHEREAS, Louisiana has one of the highest maternal death rates in the country
8 with Black and Brown women experiencing pregnancy-related death at three times the rates
9 of White women; and
10 WHEREAS, Louisiana is one of eight states who received an "F" on the March of
11 Dimes Report Card; and
12 WHEREAS, low-income women are more at risk for maternal morbidity and
13 mortality according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists with
14 seventy percent of women enrolled in Medicaid identifying with a health issue after delivery;
15 and
16 WHEREAS, two-thirds of pregnancy associated mortality is between forty-three days
17 to one year after the end of pregnancy; and
18 WHEREAS, for every one maternal death, there are seventy maternal women who
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SLS 23RS-2252 ORIGINAL
1 experience morbidity events which are illnesses or disabilities that can shorten their life
2 expectancy; and
3 WHEREAS, according to the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the cost of each
4 severe maternal morbidity event is upwards of eleven thousand dollars; and
5 WHEREAS, improving access to healthcare through postpartum expansion of
6 Medicaid has been associated with a fifty percent increase in the use of outpatient care,
7 particularly for women with severe maternal morbidity; and
8 WHEREAS, Louisiana can protect the reproductive health of women, reduce re-
9 admissions, reduce maternal morbidity events, and reduce maternal mortality by providing
10 health insurance coverage of low-income women through Medicaid; and
11 WHEREAS, maternal health should be a priority for our state, which would reduce
12 costs and improve the quality of life for our Louisiana families in the long term.
13 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
14 does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to apply, on or before
15 September 30, 2023, to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for an amendment
16 to the state Medicaid plan to extend income eligibility criteria for Medicaid coverage for
17 pregnant individuals to one hundred eighty-five percent of the federal poverty level or
18 below.
19 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
20 secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Celeste D. Ellis.
DIGEST
SR 145 Original 2023 Regular Session Duplessis
Urges and requests the Louisiana Department of Health to apply, on or before September 30,
2023, to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for an amendment to the state
Medicaid plan to extend income eligibility for Medicaid coverage for pregnant individuals
to 185% of the federal poverty level or below.
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