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Medicaid Expansion for Postpartum Care
Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly could grab two wins at once on Thursday.
The Assembly appears poised to approve a plan that would expand postpartum care for women in the state’s Medicaid system.
Currently women who are on BadgerCare get two months worth of coverage after giving birth. The plan before the Assembly, AB 97, would extend that out to a full year.
Assembly Republicans say it will help women who need more time to recover after having a baby.
But passing a postpartum expansion also would take away a campaign talking point from Democrats.
A number of Democratic lawmakers spent their Wednesday bashing Republicans because Wisconsin has not expanded its postpartum care.
“The votes are there. The support is there. The urgency is there. What’s missing is the Speaker’s willingness to act. Nearly 50 Wisconsin moms died in a single year from postpartum causes, how many others suffered unnecessarily because they lacked access to healthcare? An estimated 700 new moms are losing coverage every month," Rep. Angela Stroud, D-Ashland said.
She was not the only one.
"It is outrageous that the Speaker is blocking the vote of both these bills despite the fact that more than half of the Assembly body and an overwhelming number of Republican and Democratic voters want to see these bills passed and signed into law," Rep. Renuka Mayadev, D-Madison said in a statement.
Republicans are also expected to vote Thursday on a plan to expand cancer screenings for women.
That too was a Democratic attack point on Wednesday.
“I have received hundreds of emails asking this legislature to get Gail’s Law signed into law. The state Senate has already passed the bill 32-1. Compromises have been made. We have found the common ground that serves the common good. We have done the work,” Rep. Robyn Vinning, D-Wauwatosa, said. “Now let us vote!”
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