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Wisconsin Assembly Approves 12-Month Postpartum Medicaid Coverage, Sends Bill to Evers

A rare reversal by Speaker Robin Vos unlocked a vote following years of bipartisan lobbying.

Overview

  • The bill opts Wisconsin into the federal option to extend postpartum Medicaid from 60 days to 12 months for low-income mothers.
  • The Assembly passed the measure by an overwhelming, bipartisan margin after the Senate had already approved it earlier in the session.
  • Gov. Tony Evers has indicated he will sign the legislation, which would leave Arkansas as the only state without yearlong postpartum coverage.
  • The Legislative Fiscal Bureau projects about $9.4 million in state costs once phased in, with roughly $14.1 million in federal matching funds.
  • Hospitals, medical groups and cross-partisan citizen advocates, including the Builders Movement, backed the change, and lawmakers also advanced a bill expanding insurance coverage for supplemental breast cancer screenings.