SB58 expands Medicaid eligibility to include postpartum mothers for up to 12 months, up from 60 days. Additionally, the Department of Health must submit necessary amendments to the state plan to raise the income threshold for pregnant women and extend postpartum benefits.
The Alaska State Senate passed SB58 on May 5, 2023 by a vote of 19 to 1. We have assigned pluses to the nays because neither health care nor social welfare is the legitimate object of government. Medicaid, as with many other ‘entitlement programs,’ discriminatorily and unjustly provides “eligible” low-income persons, who have little or no tax liability, with government funds at the expense of other hard-working citizens. Alaska must reject the use of taxpayer dollars for this ever-expanding and unsustainable federal-state program that is not authorized under Article 1, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution.