Delaware extends postpartum Medicaid coverage

DELAWARE – The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance has announced that it is extending Medicaid postpartum healthcare coverage from 60 days to 12 months after the end of a pregnancy.

We’re told this expansion was made possible through a State Plan Amendment, approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in May and is retroactively effective as of July 2022. Delaware is one of 35 states to extend Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage to 12 months following the end of a pregnancy.

Previously, Medicaid enrollees who were pregnant received coverage through the end of the month in which their 60-day postpartum period ends. A provision in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 gave states the option to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months, made permanent by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law by President Biden in December 2022.

Now, Medicaid recipients will be eligible to receive 12 months of ongoing postpartum healthcare coverage beginning on the date their pregnancy ends, regardless of the reason, through the last day of the month 12 months after the last day of pregnancy. Individuals will remain eligible event if certain changes occur that may affect eligibility, such as a change in income or household/family unit.