MADISON – A new bill in Madison would extend Medicaid benefits for postpartum people to one year after giving birth, as opposed to the current window of sixty days of Medicaid support available to postpartum Wisconsinites. Democratic Representative Evan Goyke co-authored the bill, and says it has support from both Democrats and Republicans. Despite its seemingly broad appeal, Goyke says it is being blocked by certain characters in the State Assembly.
“The problem is that Republican leadership, specifically the Speaker of the State Assembly (Robin Vos-R), is blocking that bill from moving forward in the legislative process. I support attaching that (Medicaid) funding to the state budget because I do not have confidence that Republican leadership will bring that standalone bill to the floor for a vote,” Goyke told WTMJ.
Assembly speaker Robin Vos recently told Wisconsin Health News tax payers should not be paying for the deliveries of other parents.
Medicaid is a federally funded healthcare program with the goal of providing care for low income citizens. Parents in Wisconsin can earn three times the national poverty threshold and still qualify for government assistance. Representative Goyke says Medicaid coverage for mothers will save everyone in the state headaches, and more importantly, money.
“The healthier the mom, the healthier the baby. Getting babies on a healthy trajectory avoids lifelong medical expenses that sometimes come back to cost us in the long run.”
State Republican leadership was contacted to comment on this story but did not respond.
The State Assembly will most likely vote on the budget in July.
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