Overview

Medicaid is the leading source of financing for births in the U.S., covering nearly half in 2010. While the
federal and state governments jointly finance the program, states operate their programs and establish
benefits, eligibility, and coverage policies subject to broad federal guidelines. While states must provide eligible
pregnant women with coverage of inpatient and outpatient medical care, they can make different choices
regarding the broad range of pregnancy-related support services and other non-hospital care offered to
pregnant women. To understand variations in the scope of coverage for perinatal and family planning services
and related state Medicaid policies across the nation, the staff of the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health
Management Associates surveyed states about perinatal and family planning services benefit policies that were
in place as of July 1, 2015.

The analysis of state responses to this survey found that overall most states cover a broad range of perinatal
services in their full scope traditional Medicaid program, under full scope ACA Medicaid expansion, and
pregnancy-related eligibility pathways. Coverage for services that help women and their families care for their
children after delivery, such as childbirth and parenting classes, breastfeeding education, and lactation
consultation are less common. Only half of the reporting states cover home births and very few states
cover doula supports despite research suggesting that this assistance results in better health outcomes.

Authors: Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)

Publication Date: April, 2017

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