JANS – In a major victory for Black women (and any pregnant person) in Mississippi, presumptive eligibility for Medicaid coverage decisively passed the full Mississippi legislature last week. It now awaits Governor Reeves’s signature. On the heels of last year’s legislative victory that extended postpartum eligibility for the first 12 months after giving birth, Mississippi mothers will soon have more opportunities and resources to prioritize their health and well-being, say health advocates.

Presumptive eligibility allows children to get access to Medicaid or CHIP services without having to wait for their application to be fully processed. Qualified entities can also help families gather the documents needed to complete the full application process, thereby reducing the administrative burden on states to obtain missing information.

A study by the Center for Mississippi Health Policy determined there is a statistically significant lower likelihood of preterm births for low-income women when living in a state where Presumptive Eligibility for Pregnant Women (PEPW) policy is in place along with Medicaid Expansion.