Alaska becomes 44th state to expand postpartum Medicaid/CHIP coverage to a full 12 months thanks to Biden-Harris Admin

via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):

February 23: CMS approved a postpartum coverage extension state plan amendment (SPA) for Alaska (link to come). This SPA approval will extend comprehensive coverage after pregnancy through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for a full 12 months. The approval of Alaska’s SPA marks critical progress in implementing the CMS Maternity Care Action Plan, which supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s Maternal Health Blueprint, a comprehensive strategy aimed at improving maternal health, particularly in underserved communities. Alaska is the 44th state, including D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands that have extended postpartum Medicaid coverage to a full year, made possible by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan (ARP), and made permanent by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA, 2023), which President Biden signed into law in December 2022.

I actually thought Alaska was already included among the states which had extended postpartum Medicaid to 12 months (this article about Texas doing so claimed that only  Idaho, Iowa, Arkansas and Wisconsin haven't done so), but it's possible that the new announcement is simply about Alaska jumping the final hurdle before it actually goes into effect.

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