Gallego Leads Bill to Guarantee 12 Months of Postpartum Coverage Under Medicaid and CHIP

WASHINGTON – Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)introduced thePostpartum Lifeline Actto 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 Arizonasince 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. ThePostpartum Lifeline Actwould require 12-month postpartum coverage nationwide.
In Arizona, nearly1 in 7women reported symptoms of postpartum depression, which can go undiagnosed and untreated without regular postpartum checkups. Earlier this year, Governor Katie Hobbssigned a lawto help expand rural reproductive healthcare and combat postpartum depression.
The bill is part of a broader package of Democratic-ledlegislationto safeguard Medicaid as Congressional Republicans try to jam through a tax package that would rip away health care from millions of Americans – including nearly300,000 Arizonans–in order to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy on the backs of working families.
Read the full billHERE.
6/16/25