A bill to help poor women access prenatal care passed a committee deadline at the eleventh hour after a committee chairman said he wouldn’t bring it up for a vote.
The policy was signed into law last year, but never went into effect because of administrative hiccups.
Last week, Senate Medicaid Chair Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, told Mississippi Today that he would not be taking up the House’s bill to fix the issues in the program, calling it “his prerogative as chairman.”
However, on deadline day, Blackwell called the bill up in his committee. It passed unanimously and without discussion. It will now move on to the floor vote in the Senate, where it passed with overwhelming support last year.
Blackwell declined to comment on why he changed course.
Blackwell had previously added the policy to another Medicaid bill, but was criticized by House Medicaid Chair Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, for attaching her legislation to what she called a “$7 million laundry list of unrelated lobbyist requests.”
In addition, the policy in Blackwell’s tech bill included language that the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services – the agency charged with overseeing state Medicaid programs – denied last year.
Presumptive eligibility for pregnant women allows low-income women who become newly eligible for Medicaid once pregnant to receive immediate coverage as soon as they find out they’re pregnant – even if their Medicaid application is still pending. The program is especially effective in states that have not expanded Medicaid.
Mississippi is currently one of only three states with neither expansion or presumptive eligibility for pregnant women.
An expectant mother would need to fall under the following income levels to qualify for presumptive eligibility in 2025:
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