WASHINGTON – Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) introduced the Postpartum Lifeline Act to require 12 months of full postpartum health coverage for new mothers under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This comes as Republicans are poised to make massive cuts to Medicaid that would threaten postpartum care.
“Republicans are abandoning mothers at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives — the year after giving birth. They say they are pro-family but their actions speak differently. My wife just gave birth, and I cannot imagine if we did not have access to post-natal checkups over the next year,” said Senator Gallego.
Most states, including Arizona since 2023, have opted to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to one year thanks to the American Rescue Plan. However, this 12-month postpartum coverage would be one of the first programs that states would cut if Congressional Republicans make their planned drastic cuts to Medicaid. The Postpartum Lifeline Act would require 12-month postpartum coverage nationwide.
In Arizona, nearly 1 in 7 women reported symptoms of postpartum depression, which can go undiagnosed and untreated without regular postpartum checkups. Earlier this year, Governor Katie Hobbs signed a law to help expand rural reproductive healthcare and combat postpartum depression.
The bill is part of a broader package of Democratic-led legislation to safeguard Medicaid as Congressional Republicans try to jam through a tax package that would rip away health care from millions of Americans – including nearly 300,000 Arizonans –in order to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy on the backs of working families.
Read the full bill HERE.
6/16/25