A committee made up of members appointed by state leaders voted unanimously to recommend that the Legislature extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to 12 months. The Mississippi Medical Care Advisory Committee, which is tasked by state law to advise the Division of Medicaid about “health and medical care services,” cast the vote in October. The committee is made up of 11 members appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House. Dr. David Reeves, chairman of the committee and a physician on the Gulf Coast, penned a letter to Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann on Jan. 11. He said the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Division of Neonatal Medicine made a presentation to the committee. “After consideration and review, with a unanimous vote, the Committee recommends, through legislative action, extending postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months. We feel this extension of coverage will be beneficial to both our mothers and babies and supports the pledge we have made to Mississippi’s women and children with the recent Supreme Court decision upholding Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health,” Dr. Reeves wrote.