MADISON, Wis. — Today, thanks to years of tireless work by Wisconsin Democrats, new moms in the state of Wisconsin will receive healthcare coverage for 12 months after they give birth. Reporting from Cap Times details the positive impacts this policy change will have on postpartum mothers and their families—from lowering the postpartum and infant mortality rates to ensuring moms receive critical mental and physical care after birth. 

Cap Times:Wisconsin moms on Medicaid now get 12 months of coverage
By: Erin McGroarty | 6/29/26

Thousands of Wisconsin mothers who previously would have lost Medicaid coverage 60 days after giving birth will now remain insured for a full year under a state law taking effect July 1.

The change makes Wisconsin the 49th state to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months, a policy that health officials have pushed for as a way to improve maternal health outcomes. Doctors have long advocated for the policy change, raising concerns that health complications after giving birth can continue long after the first two months following delivery.

The extended coverage is intended to ensure new mothers can continue to receive care for physical and mental health conditions that often emerge or persist in the months after childbirth, while reducing gaps in insurance coverage during a critical period for recovery and infant care.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services will now enter the process of extending coverage for new moms across the state who may have otherwise lost their postpartum coverage.

The policy change is a “really big win” in Wisconsin, said Dr. Jasmine Zapata, state epidemiologist for maternal and child health and chronic diseases. Not just for maternal health but for infant mortality, too.

“Infant mortality is defined as babies who die before their first birthday,” Zapata said in an interview with the Cap Times. “If you have a mom who is suffering herself in that first year of life, just imagine the care she’s able to provide for an infant.”

Past testimony highlights need

The law took years to get through the Wisconsin Legislature despite widespread support from medical institutions, insurance organizations, the state health department and social service networks, as well as near-unanimous bipartisan support in the Senate and Assembly.

The barrier to passage was largely due to soon-to-be retired Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who claimed the extension of coverage amounted to a welfare expansion.

Extending postpartum Medicaid coverage is estimated to cost $23.5 million a year once the program is fully implemented. The state is projected to pay $9.4 million of that and the federal government will cover the remaining $14.1 million.

A series of legislative committee hearings last session brought emotional public testimony as state residents and health experts alike called for change.

Sally Zirbel-Donisch, a mother of two from Middleton and retired assistant director of health services for the Madison Metropolitan School District, cited her own postpartum complications when testifying in favor of the bill in 2025.

“As a mother who suffered from preeclampsia with my daughter and hemorrhaged after the birth of my son, this bill is personal to me. Women need medical care beyond 60 days after delivery,” Zirbel-Donisch told the Senate Committee on Health as it considered the bill last session. “I fortunately had excellent medical care before and after my pregnancy with frequent follow-up with the medical provider before my daughter’s birth and several months after her birth.”

Other states’ numbers show effectiveness

In 2023, Medicaid covered 35% of births in Wisconsin, according to the state health department.

Between 2020 and 2022, the state health department recorded 63 pregnancy-related deaths — one third of which occurred after 60 days postpartum when BadgerCare Plus coverage for new mothers ended under previous statute.

According to state health administrators, 76% of mothers who died had Medicaid at the time they delivered their baby.

Other states that extended postpartum Medicaid coverage saw more than a 50% decline in infant mortality rates after extending coverage, with the greatest declines in infant mortality seen among Black and Hispanic infants, according to the American Journal of Public Health and the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

Similarly, states that have previously extended postpartum Medicaid saw use of mental health and substance use disorder services in the first year increase by more than 300%.

How will implementation work?

Most people enrolled in the pregnancy option of BadgerCare Plus will have their coverage automatically extended, according to the state health department.

“Anyone whose original 60-day postpartum coverage was scheduled to end May 31 or later will automatically keep their coverage for the 12-month postpartum period,” DHS spokesperson Elizabeth Goodsitt wrote in an email to the Cap Times. “If we already sent them correspondence saying they needed to renew, we sent an updated letter to let them know they will be extended without a renewal.”

Similarly, those who are currently pregnant will not need to take action to keep their coverage for the full 12-month period.

“The Wisconsin Medicaid team has made system updates so they maintain their coverage automatically,” Goodsitt wrote.

For those whose postpartum coverage ended after the new law was signed March 18 but before May 31, whether or not their coverage will be automatically extended depends on whether they are still enrolled in another form of Medicaid and still in the system. If they are still enrolled in another type of Medicaid, their postpartum coverage will automatically be extended to 12 months after delivery. If they are no longer enrolled in any kind of Medicaid, they must call their agency to request reinstatement of their coverage for the remainder of their one-year postpartum period, according to the state health department.

The department will send letters to these members with call instructions, Goodsitt said.

State health officials will also make an effort to contact medical providers to keep the healthcare workforce up to date on the expanded benefits, she said.