California To Extend Full Medi-Cal Coverage to Pregnant Women

CMS has approved California's waiver to extend full Medi-Cal coverage to pregnant women, Modern Healthcare reports.

Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program.

Background

Under the Affordable Care Act, California extended full Medi-Cal coverage to all women in households with family incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level.

However, a previous federal mandate that required states to cover pregnancy-related services also allowed them to cover less than the full range of Medicaid benefits for pregnant women. As a result, pregnant women who enrolled in Medi-Cal were given a limited set of benefits.

Details of Waiver

According to Modern Healthcare, the waiver language to expand full Medi-Cal coverage to pregnant women was included in a state law (SB 857) that Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed last year.

With CMS' approval, California now can:

• Eliminate the limited coverage option; and
• Require pregnant women with incomes up to 138% FPL to enroll in a Medi-Cal managed care plan (Dickson, Modern Healthcare, 8/13).