Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a bipartisan bill extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to one year.
Evers said Wisconsin becomes the 49th state to include 12-month Medicaid coverage, leaving Arkansas as the only state without the extension. He first proposed the legislation in his first year in office but could not get enough Republicans to advance the bill until his last year.
Seven years later, it passed with nearly unanimous support in the Assembly and Senate.
"Here's the deal, and I promise you my wife Kathy didn't pay me to say this. If lawmakers tried listening to Wisconsin women more often this bill would have gotten done a long time ago," Evers said.
Watch: Advocates applaud Wisconsin postpartum Medicaid expansion
Evers said an average of 21 women die in Wisconsin every year from pregnancy-related issues, with half occurring during the postpartum period. He said 95 percent of those deaths are preventable.
Advocate Tamara Thompson attended the bill signing, holding a picture of her 3-month-old daughter, Demara, who died three months after birth from a virus. Thompson needed additional state healthcare coverage and had good doctors, but empathized with new moms worried about postpartum Medicaid coverage running out after 60 days.
"It means that they don't have to worry and stress about how they're going to provide the care that they need for their babies and for their own healing," Thompson said.
Kate Duffy with Motherhood for Good worked with a long list of others to extend Medicaid coverage to 12 months.
"Today, Wisconsin moves where its motto promises, forward," Duffy said. "Because when you invest in moms, you invest in everything."
Doctors on the front lines see the new law as a game-changer.
"This means a lot to us as a neonatologist that takes care of sick babies," Dr. Joanne Lagatta with Children's Wisconsin said. "Healthy moms is healthy babies. We need them healthy in here with us, for themselves and for their child."
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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