New mothers in Texas with Medicaid insurance could keep their coverage for an additional six months postpartum instead of two, according to the Texas Tribune.
A new bill written by maternal health advocates to reduce the maternal death rate as well as a number of postpartum complications is expected to be heard by the state Senate.
Texas' Medicaid program currently covers low-income women throughout pregnancy and two months after childbirth, but a third of the state's maternal deaths happen 43 days or more after delivery, according to the article.
The bill was originally pitched as a one-year extension of postpartum coverage and passed in the House of Representatives, but the length of time has been reduced to six months.
"I'm very disappointed that they cut the bill to six months," Texas state Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, told the publication. "All of the recommendations from the health commission and the maternal mortality and morbidity task force committee were 12 months."
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the presiding officer of the Senate, said in a television interview that though he supports the bill, the benefits extension should be less than one year.
The six-month version is expected to cost the state $49 million, while the one-year extension is expected to cost $90 million.
About 181,000 babies were born to mothers under Texas' Medicaid program in 2018, the article said.