MIAMI — For a decade, Florida lawmakers have refused to expand eligibility for the public health insurance program, Medicaid, to all low-income adults as prescribed under the Affordable Care Act.
But this week, Florida received approval from federal regulators to extend Medicaid benefits for one group of residents for whom state legislators had requested additional coverage: new mothers.
Florida will join California, Kentucky and Oregon as states that are newly approved to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for eligible women from 60 days to 12 months — a policy shift that will benefit an estimated 126,000 women in those four states, including 50,000 women in Florida.
