Gov. Wolf’s decision to join Medicaid program extending postpartum care to 12 months will save lives

I was rocking my newborn son to sleep, shortly after returning home from the hospital in 2013, when I learned I no longer had health insurance. Following my son’s birth, I was taken off my Medicaid plan for pregnant women and, due to the extensive process required to restart postpartum care, was not put back on health insurance.

Any mother in my situation would have been shocked and scared, but as a Type 1 diabetic, I knew that the stakes were particularly high. If I don’t have insurance, I risk being unable to afford my insulin — a medication I cannot survive without. I have rationed insulin in the past and I worried I would have to do it again, risking serious health complications or even death. Instead of dreaming of the life ahead for me and my newborn son, I found myself imagining his life without me.

As a first-time mother who had pregnancy complications like preeclampsia, which causes high blood pressure and limb swelling, my delivery process was grueling. I was in labor for 21 hours. Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of black maternal mortality in the United States. As an Afro-Latina, my life was on the line. And after my son was born, I had a high risk for postpartum health problems.

Postpartum health insurance covers both mothers and newborns, and is just as vital as coverage for pregnancy and birth. Even under ideal circumstances, there are dozens of follow-up medical appointments in the year after birth to screen for birth-related complications such as blood clots or hemorrhage, and to check on the health of the newborn. This is particularly true following a high-risk pregnancy like mine. None of these visits are cheap — especially without insurance.

For years, Pennsylvania only offered qualifying mothers 60 days of postpartum coverage. Yet nearly 60% of pregnancy-related deaths in the state occur between six weeks and one year after birth. Sixty days of coverage is simply not enough to protect new mothers, especially Black and brown mothers like me, who experience disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality.

Nationwide, more than 40% of mothers have their births covered by Medicaid. In Pennsylvania, the figure is about 35%. I was one of those mothers. If you qualify for Medicaid when you get pregnant in Pennsylvania, you are moved to a coverage plan specifically for expectant mothers. The pregnancy coverage was good. But almost immediately after I gave birth, I was stripped of my pregnancy coverage and not put back on any other health insurance, including my Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities coverage, also provided through the state’s Medicaid system.

Enrolling in and extending postpartum health coverage is not easy. Both constituents and officials have faced significant administrative issues trying to enroll in and extend postpartum health coverage. It took months for me to finally get covered again after my son’s birth. The paperwork and administrative hoops to jump through seemed endless.

Thankfully, the Biden administration recognizes this and dedicated federal funds to ensure states can more feasibly, quickly transition mothers and guarantee a full year of postpartum coverage. Pennsylvania began offering the extended coverage in April and the funding will continue for the next five years. Now, new mothers will have continuous coverage and will be able to spend more time bonding with their new babies. I am grateful to Gov. Wolf for opting into this plan, which will save lives and would have prevented some of the problems I had during my first pregnancy.

I know what it’s like to go without health insurance after birth. I know what it’s like to have recurring headaches and low blood sugar — to learn how to breastfeed — all while wondering if I’d be able to afford my doctor visits and daily insulin. I know what it’s like to wonder if my health could take a sudden turn for the worse. So I know firsthand how much of a difference this Medicaid coverage extension will make to the tens of thousands of Pennsylvania mothers who rely on Medicaid for their births every year.

I truly hope our leaders make it permanent. It may not fully solve the racial gap in maternal coverage, but it is a welcome and necessary step in the right direction.

Knowing that my state and the federal government are working together to expand health care is something that I — and many other mothers — greatly appreciate. Keeping both moms and babies healthy will have a massive positive impact on American families.

Yamelisa Taveras is the CEO of Counseling Solutions of the Lehigh Valley. She lives in Allentown with her family.