Preliminary report: thousands of new mothers lose Medicaid eligibility after postpartum period, agency says

Deputy Secretary and Medicaid Director Janet Mann presented the committee with a preliminary quarterly report on postpartum Medicaid eligibility for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2024. Mann said the department will provide a finalized, automated report once quality control is established, but offered the committee an initial data snapshot.

For the quarter ending 2024-09-30, Mann reported that 4,234 women were in the pregnant Medicaid eligibility category. Of those, 1,711 "stayed in the same category after their postpartum," 901 "moved to a different category at the end of their postpartum," 1,451 were "not eligible at the end of the postpartum," and 71 were listed as unknown because they "lost eligibility prior to the end of postpartum." Mann called the report preliminary and said the department is working with partners at AID to transition individuals who are not eligible for Medicaid to marketplace options where permitted.

Committee members pressed for additional breakdowns by age and federal poverty level (FPL). Mann confirmed that eligibility for pregnant women covering up to 60 days postpartum goes to 209% of the FPL, compared with the 138% level used for the Medicaid expansion population; she agreed to provide FPL- and age-specific breakdowns and related charts to the committee.

Why it matters: The department’s preliminary numbers show a sizable share of postpartum women do not remain in the same Medicaid eligibility category after childbirth, which lawmakers said complicates outreach and policy decisions. Lawmakers requested the final, QC-reviewed quarterly reports be delivered sooner and asked the agency to explore outreach and marketplace transition options for those who lose Medicaid eligibility.

Attribution: Direct figures and procedural comments are attributed to Janet Mann during the committee meeting.