Charleston Gazette-Mail – The House of Delegates on Friday passed a bill expanding health care coverage to low-income pregnant women. Read full article.
Senate Bill 546 passed in the House with a 97-3 vote. Delegates Tom Fast, R-Fayette; Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock; and Marshall Wilson, R- Berkeley, voted against the bill.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, expands Medicaid to cover pregnant women in households that make up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to cover women who earn between 185 percent and 300 percent of the federal poverty level.
CHIP coverage for pregnant women would include prenatal care, delivery and 60 days postpartum care.
For a family of four, 185 percent of the federal poverty line would be approximately $48,000 and 300 percent would be about $78,000.
