Medicaid

More than 16 million women of reproductive age are covered by the Medicaid program. Medicaid is the largest single payer of maternity care in the U.S., covering more than 40% of U.S. births and playing a critical role in ensuring healthy moms and babies.

Medicaid accounts for 75% of public family planning dollars, every $1 of which saves Medicaid $7.09. The Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion reduced the uninsured rate among women ages 18-64 by nearly half, from 19.3% to 10.8% in 5 years.

ACOG advocates for:

• Access to meaningful coverage for low-income women
• Appropriate reimbursement for physicians in the Medicaid program
• Extension of pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage to one-year postpartum

ACOG opposes state and federal reforms aimed at reducing participation in the Medicaid program and establishing barriers to care.

Extend Medicaid Coverage One Year Postpartum

Individuals with pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage typically lose their benefits 60 days after the end of pregnancy.

Our nation’s rate of maternal mortality is rising, and a growing body of evidence shows that many of these deaths, particularly from preventable causes such as overdose and suicide, occur after pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage ends. In West Virginia, for example, 62 percent of all maternal deaths from 2007-2013 occurred more than 60 days postpartum.

To learn more about ACOG's ongoing policy work at the state and federal level to extend postpartum coverage, see our Extend Postpartum Medicaid Coverage page.

Medicaid Reforms/1115 Waivers

States historically utilized Medicaid Section 1115 waivers to create or test innovative demonstration programs to expand care to new populations, offer new services, and deliver care in alternative settings. Waivers have been both broad, affecting large segments of the Medicaid program, and narrow, focused on specific populations or services.

Recently, states have sought waiver authority to restrict or limit access, condition the receipt of care on meeting standards outside of the objectives of the Medicaid program, and/or alter the underlying financing of care itself, shifting financial risk to enrollees.

ACOG supports the use of waivers to expand access to meaningful coverage for low-income women and opposes efforts to use waivers to restrict access to coverage or shift costs to enrollees.

Qualified Providers

Medicaid’s federal “any willing provider” and “freedom of choice” protections were enshrined in law to ensure that there are enough providers to care for Medicaid beneficiaries. Legislative or regulatory attempts to deny or restrict provider participation in the Medicaid program would jeopardize access to primary and preventive care for millions of Americans.

ACOG opposes efforts to limit access to qualified women’s health care providers.