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Medicaid Maternity Benefits

Pregnant women who are not eligible for group health may obtain Medicaid for the duration of their pregnancy and post-natal care if they have a qualifying annual income at the time of applying. Once approved, some states will ask women to enroll in specific plans. In addition to paying no monthly premium, recipients of Maternity Medicaid will usually owe no money for any procedure deemed medically necessary.

  1. Complete Routine Care

    • The major advantage of having Medicaid during pregnancy is that it pays for complete pre-natal care, the delivery of the child and post-natal care up to an average of six weeks. In many states, women who have Medicaid pay absolutely nothing for these services. In a few states, a small co-pay is required. Women must see a doctor who accepts Medicaid in order to qualify. However, the list of eligible doctors is quite extensive, and the service quality is the same as that provided to any other patient. Doctors approved to accept Maternity Medicaid will determine the number of appointments you must keep, and all appointments will be covered as deemed medically necessary. Typically doctors will schedule one appointment every six weeks during the first two trimesters of pregnancy. During the third trimester, doctors may begin seeing patients more frequently, about once every three weeks. Covered appointments include monitoring the baby's heart beat, the mother's weight and the mother's blood sugar. Additional standard procedures include testing for blood type, STDs, anemia, gestational diabetes and group B strep. Targeted traditional ultrasounds to make sure that the baby's organs have formed properly will also be ordered. All these procedures are covered by Medicaid maternity benefits. Procedures that aren't covered include 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds and a midwife's care. Recipients of Medicaid wishing to use a midwife may deliver at home and supplement the midwife's treatment with medical tests, however. In this case, medical tests ordered by an approved physician will be covered even if the expectant mother is in the primary care of the midwife.

    Rewards for Obtaining Care

    • While this benefit differs between states, some Medicaid plans reward pregnant women who maintain their pre-natal appointments. For example, Georgia's Amerigroup Medicaid plan offers women a $20.00 gift card during each trimester of pregnancy. To receive the activated gift cards in the mail, expectant mothers must have their doctors sign a form during each trimester of the pregnancy. Mothers are responsible for returning the forms to Medicaid headquarters; however, postage is pre-paid. Take note that, while Medicaid rewards patients for keeping appointments, it does not penalize patients for cancelling them.

    Emergency Procedures

    • In addition to paying for a vaginal delivery, Medicaid maternity benefits cover all procedures deemed medically necessary by an approved physician, including emergency procedures and cesarean sections planned for medically necessary reasons. Should an expectant mother require an epidural, IV antibiotics, oxytocin or other drugs ordered by her physician during delivery, Medicaid maternity benefits will cover the cost.

    Tubal Ligation

    • Finally, should an expectant mother not wish to have any more children, Medicaid maternity benefits will usually pay for the mother to be permanently sterilized via tubal ligation immediately following the delivery of her child provided that the mother signs a consent form.

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