Delaware: Biden-Harris Admin Announces Expansion Of Medicaid Postpartum Coverage, Joining 33 Other States & DC!

via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):

CMS Approves Delaware Postpartum Coverage Expansion Under the American Rescue Plan

May 15: CMS marked another important maternal health milestone by approving Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) postpartum coverage expansion in Delaware, an opportunity made possible through the American Rescue Plan. This approval marks 33 states and the District of Columbia that have extended postpartum Medicaid/CHIP coverage to a full year. Information about Delaware’s postpartum coverage extension for Medicaid can be found here; Delaware’s postpartum coverage extension for CHIP can be found here.

Theodore Mermigos,
Acting Director Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance
Molly Magarik, Secretary, DHSS
Delaware Health and Social Services
P.O. Box 906 New Castle, DE 19720-0906

Dear Mr. Mermigos:

Your title XXI Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) State Plan Amendment (SPA) number DE-22-0012, submitted on October 31, 2022, and additional information received on March 21, 2023 and May 9, 2023, has been approved. Through this SPA, Delaware provides 12 months of continuous postpartum coverage to individuals enrolled in its separate CHIP, pursuant to section 9822 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP). This SPA has an effective date of July 1, 2022 and is a companion to the Medicaid continuous postpartum coverage SPA, DE-22-0011.

Section 9822 of the ARP added section 2107(e)(1)(J) to the Social Security Act, which requires states to provide continuous eligibility throughout an individual’s pregnancy and 12-month postpartum period in CHIP if the state has elected this option in Medicaid. In Delaware, this provision applies to targeted low-income children who are pregnant. In addition, the state will phase out all state-specific exceptions to the continuous eligibility period for children by no later than April 1, 2023 to be consistent with CHIP regulations at 42 CFR 457.342.

Although the state plan template indicates that this provision sunsets on March 31, 2027, section 5113 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 eliminated the sunset date and made the option permanent. If the state would like to eliminate extended postpartum coverage in the future, it should submit a new state plan amendment. Your Project Officer is Ticia Jones. She is available to answer your questions and other CHIPrelated matters.