ALBANY- More than 1.3 million people currently enrolled in New York State’s Child Health Plus plan are
about to see an expansion of coverage. The Hochul administration had requested a Medicaid waiver from the federal government to expand postpartum coverage from sixty days to a full year.
The move will add 26,000 residents to coverage and will also allow enrollment regardless of immigration status or circumstances of pregnancy. Thirty-five states currently provide extended postpartum coverage.
“The entire first year after childbirth can be a very vulnerable time,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald. “The extension of postpartum coverage displays the Department’s commitment to ensure that all individuals who give birth have the vital resources and services they need to have safe pregnancies.”
Child Health Plus is offered in New York as a Medicaid enhancement. More than 7.7 million people are on Medicaid in New York and the budget for the program has long been criticized as too large and too expensive. Recent studies show that New York spends more on the program than Texas and Florida combined, despite the fact each of those states individually have a much larger population than New York.
The state’s plan option to extend coverage came from the Biden administration’s Maternity Care Action Plan. The goal of the plan is to improve maternity care, especially in disadvantaged communities. With the addition of New York an estimated 509,000 Americans now have access to extended postpartum coverage.
