AACF again calls for Medicaid extension for new mothers
Using data from the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) reported Wednesday (July 22) that a significant number of new moms lost Medicaid coverage 60 days after giving birth.
The May report from the DHS shows that 45% of new moms in Arkansas lost Medicaid coverage 60 days after giving birth. Only 145 of the 2,173 women who lost Medicaid had another source of insurance recorded in their case by the end of the postpartum period. That means roughly 94% were not documented as transitioning to another source of coverage, providing no evidence that most women are successfully moving into other insurance after pregnancy Medicaid ends,” according to AACF.
Nearly 1 in 5 of the moms dropped off of coverage due to income limits. Pregnancy Medicaid covers women with incomes slightly higher – 214% of the federal poverty level – that non-pregnancy Medicaid coverage. Many new mothers earn a little too much income for traditional Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance, the AACF noted.
“The need for postpartum health care does not end at the 6-week postpartum visit,” said Camille Richoux, health policy director at Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. “The first year of health is a vulnerable time when women are recovering physically and mentally, all while caring for a newborn.”
Health issues like gestational diabetes, postpartum depression, and pregnancy-associated hypertension require onoing attention. The AACF report also noted that recent data from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) postpartum call center showed that 1 in 5 moms who called had urgent maternal health warning signs that required medical attention, and nearly 1 in 10 screened positive for postpartum depression.
The AACF said Arkansas “has made strides over the past to few years to invest in addressing maternal and infant health,” but said the “significant gap” in insurance coverage “requires urgent action to extend pregnancy Medicaid from 60 days to 12 months.” The AACF also noted that Arkansas is the only U.S. state that has not granted a Medicaid extension for new mothers.
“While efforts to do so have failed several times with the state legislature, it is worth noting that DHS could pursue the extension administratively,” the AACF said in a press release.
Arkansas has the nation’s fourth highest maternal mortality rate in 2018-22 among the 39 states where data was available in 2018-22, according to KFF, a health policy research group. The state’s rate was 38 deaths per 100,000 live births. The national average was 23. The state had the third highest infant mortality rate in 2022 with 7.67 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 272 infant deaths in Arkansas that year.
The Arkansas Legislature in 2025 passed the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act to begin addressing the state’s poor performance with maternal and infant health outcomes. Measures in the Act included allowing a pregnant woman to be eligible for Medicaid so that prenatal care is provided immediately rather than waiting for the application to be processed.
The Act also unbundled Medicaid payments so that physicians can be paid during prenatal, delivery, and postpartum phases instead of the payment held as a lump sum at the end of the pregnancy. The Act also updated payment rates, adding $45 million in state and matching federal funds, the bulk of it for deliveries and office visits.