Missouri will not take up CMS' offer to allow state Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program plans to provide postpartum care for up to one year after birth, the Kansas City Beacon reported June 25.
The federal agency said April 1 it would allow states to take advantage of the new option for the next five years to address the crisis of pregnancy-related deaths and maternal morbidity nationwide.
Missouri's maternal morbidity rates are among the highest in the nation, especially among women of color.
A bill introduced recently in the Missouri legislature would have extended postpartum coverage, but it failed to pass. In 2018, the state expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage to women with a substance use disorder, but those benefits have since been paused.
As of June 16, CMS says 14 states and Washington, D.C., have expanded postpartum coverage, a move that affects 253,000 people.