Taking the Catholic Pulse
  • John Allen Jr.
    • John Allen Jr.
    • Charles Collins
    • Elise Ann Allen
    • John Lavenburg
    • Fr. Jeff Kirby
    • Nirmala Carvalho
    • Charles Camosy
    • Eduardo Campos Lima
    • Paulina Guzik
    • Claire Page
    • Vatican
    • U.S.
    • UK and Ireland
    • Middle East
    • Americas
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Oceania
    • Interviews
    • Videos
    • Podcast
    • Last Week in the Church
  • Support Us
  • About Us
    • Contact Details
    • Advertising
    • Email Updates

  

    

       

    

Crux
© 2023 Crux Catholic Media, Inc.
Privacy and Cookie Policy
CruxTaking the Catholic Pulse
  • About Crux
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising
  • Videos
  • Support Us
Podcast:
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Stitcher
  • Amazon Music
  • Google Podcasts
  • TuneIn
  • Quick Links

  • Currents News
  • The Tablet
  • DeSales Media Group in the Diocese of Brooklyn
  • Angelus News
  • The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM
  • Catholic Standard
  • Catholic TV

Mississippi extends Medicaid benefits for postpartum care

John Lavenburg
By John Lavenburg
Mar 1, 2023
|National Correspondent
Share
Mississippi extends Medicaid benefits for postpartum care

House Medicaid Committee member Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, left, confers with Rep. Otis Anthony, D-Indianola, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, after the committee passed legislation that would extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from two months to a year. (Credit: Rogelio V. Solis/AP.)

Listen to this story:

NEW YORK – Answering a recent call from the state’s Catholic bishops, Mississippi state legislators advanced a bill on Feb. 28 that would extend Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to a full year after they give birth.

The bill was advanced by the Mississippi House Medicaid Committee via voice vote in its first legislative session of the year. Similar legislation had already passed the state Senate. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves this past week announced that he would sign the legislation if it came to his desk, a reversal from his previous opposition to the legislation.

Health experts have long recommended the policy change.

Last week, Bishop Joseph Kopacz of Jackson and Bishop Louis Kihneman III, of Biloxi – the state’s Catholic bishops – wrote a letter to state legislative leaders explaining why more postpartum Medicaid coverage was important, touting it as lifesaving legislation.

“This simple change would save the lives of mothers at a minimal cost to Mississippi taxpayers,” the bishops’ wrote, citing that many fatal postpartum complications occur after the current 60-day postpartum Medicaid coverage that the state has.

Mississippi is one of the poorest U.S. states, where Medicaid finances about 60 percent of births.

The state also has the highest infant mortality rate in the U.S., averaging 8.12 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the latest Center for Disease Control data from September 30, 2022. The maternal mortality ratio in Mississippi is also high, at 36.0 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the state health department Maternal Mortality Report from 2017-2019 that was released last month.

Kopacz and Kihneman cited both statistics to show that “the health of new mothers and children are inextricably linked.” The bishops added that racial disparities are growing, with Black women four times more likely to experience a pregnancy related death than white women in Mississippi, most of which could have been avoided with proper healthcare.

“The commitment to life must not end at birth,” Kopacz and Kihneman wrote. “We believe that access to affordable healthcare is a fundamental human right, one that is necessary for the flourishing of families and communities.”

The bishops went on to call it “heartbreaking” when healthcare is out of reach for those in need.

In announcing he would sign the legislation, Reeves highlighted the “Post-Dobbs world” that now exists after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. Mississippi is one of 13 states that had a trigger law that made almost all abortions illegal once Roe was overturned.

“That legal victory ensures that more babies will be born into this great state and this great country. I believe that to be a beautiful thing,” Reeves said in a statement. “I also believe that added stress will be felt by Mississippi moms. We have to love them. We have to support them.”

Follow John Lavenburg on Twitter: @johnlavenburg

Share

Latest Stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most Popular

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Last Week in the Church
Last Week in the Church
Keep Crux Independent
Keep Crux Independent

For the cost of a cup of coffee at Starbucks, you can help keep the lights on at Crux.

Support Us
Crux
Last Week in the Church with John Allen Jr.

Tuesdays on

Tuesdays on YouTube
Tuesdays on YouTube
  • Apple PodcastsApple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • StitcherStitcher
  • Amazon MusicAmazon Music
  • Google PodcastsGoogle Podcasts
  • TuneIn

Crux. Anytime. Anywhere.

Today’s top stories delivered straight into your inbox.

Latest
Framing the debate over sex abuse and the seal of the confessional

Nashville bishop offers prayers for victims of Covenant School shooting

  • Mar 28
  • John Lavenburg

Catholic leaders blast new US-Canada immigration deal

  • Mar 25
  • John Lavenburg

U.S. bishops urge Dept. of Education to keep rule protecting campus religious groups

  • Mar 24
  • John Lavenburg

Santa Fe archbishop ‘ashamed’ of abuse by Catholic clergy

  • Mar 22
  • John Lavenburg

Framing the debate over sex abuse and the seal of the confessional

  • Mar 28
  • John L. Allen Jr.

Nashville bishop offers prayers for victims of Covenant School shooting

  • Mar 28
  • John Lavenburg

Dublin Catholic school transferred to multi-denominational authority

  • Mar 28
  • Charles Collins

India prelate demands ‘stringent action’ after video insults pope, nuns

  • Mar 27
  • Nirmala Carvalho

From Europe to Africa, hard lessons in the limits of papal power

  • Mar 26
  • John L. Allen Jr.

India prelate demands ‘stringent action’ after video insults pope, nuns

  • Mar 27
  • Nirmala Carvalho

As Italy faces new migrant records, Pope welcomes controversial NGO

  • Mar 27
  • Crux Staff

Archbishop blasts ‘inauthentic’ politics in UK asylum law debate

  • Mar 26
  • Charles Collins