Wisconsin passes expanded Medicaid for moms, would leave Arkansas as only state without it

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Women in Wisconsin will soon be eligible to receive expanded Medicaid coverage for up to a year after giving birth following near-unanimous passage of a measure Thursday by the Wisconsin Assembly that would leave Arkansas as the only state yet to expand such benefits.

Wisconsin Democrats, and even most Republicans, have pushed for years to expand Medicaid coverage for new mothers, only to be blocked by powerful Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. Vos had argued that he opposed expanding welfare programs, but he relented late Wednesday.

The Assembly on Thursday also unanimously passed another bill with bipartisan support to require insurance to cover additional cancer screenings for women with dense breast tissue. The Medicaid bill passed 95-1.

Both measures overwhelming passed the state Senate already, meaning they will next go to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers who is expected to sign them next week.

Once that happens, Arkansas will be the only state without expanded Medicaid coverage for new mothers.

The state — which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country — did pass significant maternal healthcare legislation last year. Pregnant women are now allowed to temporarily receive Medicaid coverage while their eligibility is being processed, and Medicaid covers doula services and remote monitoring of vitals.

But the legislation did not extend postpartum Medicaid coverage, to the chagrin of Democrats and some Republicans.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, called for the maternal health package after opposing the postpartum extension, saying that there are other coverage options.

In Wisconsin, the Medicaid expansion and breast cancer screening bills broke a logjam that comes amid a flurry of last-minute negotiations near the end of the two-year legislative session. Republicans and Evers were also trying to negotiate a package of tax cuts, school spending and other measures, tapping the state’s estimated $2.5 billion budget surplus.

Democratic Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer led the charge for passage of the Medicaid and breast cancer screening bills. Neubauer announced on Wednesday that she was pregnant and that her mother had breast cancer, saying that Democrats would “stop at nothing to get a vote on these bills.” She called the expected passage of both measures “an incredible win for women and the people of Wisconsin.”

Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, had also shared stories about how their loved ones had been affected by breast cancer as part of the push for passage of the screening bill.

The Medicaid expansion will allow low-income mothers who make more than the poverty level to remain on the state’s Medicaid program for a full year after giving birth, instead of the current two months.

Despite agreement on those measures, several other high-profile bills were poised to die at the end of the session. Republicans have not agreed on a measure to provide funding to keep WisconsinEye, a nonprofit state version of CSPAN, on the air.

And the state’s nearly 40-year-old land conservation program also faced extinction as lawmakers had yet to agree on a plan to continue funding beyond June 30.

Republicans have complained for years that the program is too expensive and removes too much land from property tax rolls, hurting municipalities. Bills to keep it alive, but with dramatically less funding, have yet to pass.

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Associated Press writers Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.

Scott Bauer, The Associated Press