2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 145
BY SENATOR DUPLESSIS
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request 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 the income eligibility criteria for
Medicaid coverage for pregnant individuals to one hundred eighty-five percent of the
federal poverty level or below.
WHEREAS, Louisiana has one of the highest maternal death rates in the country
with Black and Brown women experiencing pregnancy-related death at three times the rates
of White women; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana is one of eight states who received an "F" on the March of
Dimes Report Card; and
WHEREAS, low-income women are more at risk for maternal morbidity and
mortality according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists with
seventy percent of women enrolled in Medicaid identifying with a health issue after delivery;
and
WHEREAS, two-thirds of pregnancy associated mortality is between forty-three days
to one year after the end of pregnancy; 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
expectancy; and
WHEREAS, according to the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the cost of each
severe maternal morbidity event is upwards of eleven thousand dollars; and
WHEREAS, improving access to healthcare through postpartum expansion of
Medicaid has been associated with a fifty percent increase in the use of outpatient care,
particularly for women with severe maternal morbidity; and
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WHEREAS, Louisiana can protect the reproductive health of women, reduce re-
admissions, reduce maternal morbidity events, and reduce maternal mortality by providing
health insurance coverage of low-income women through Medicaid; and
WHEREAS, maternal health should be a priority for our state, which 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 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 criteria for Medicaid coverage for
pregnant individuals to one hundred eighty-five percent of the federal poverty level or
below.
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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