Every state has a Medicaid program that covers women who are pregnant and family planning. In some states, these are separate programs. In others, they are combined. In Georgia, those portions are combined into the Planning for Healthy Babies Program.
Medicaid is a public, or government run, for of health insurance coverage. It is designed to provide low income individuals and families with an affordable form of health insurance coverage. It is for people who cannot afford to buy a health plan from a private insurance company. Medicaid is funded, in part, by the federal government. It is also funded by the government of an individual state.
In Georgia, the main Medicaid program is administered by the Georgia Department of Community Health. Medicaid will cover eligible women who are pregnant. In this situation, a woman can get a Medicaid certification form on the same day that she applies for Medicaid. She can get coverage for prenatal care for herself and for her baby immediately.
Georgia Families can also cover women who are pregnant. The program is a partnership between the Department of Community Health and a private care management system. It covers the same types of care as Medicaid, but gives people a choice of health plans. Pregnant women who are eligible for Georgia Families will continue to maintain eligibility and enrollment through Medicaid.
Planning for Healthy Babies provides health care for uninsured and underinsured Georgians. It is an expansion of Medicaid eligibility that covers women who are pregnant or who qualify for family planning services. The purpose is to reduce Georgia’s low birth weight rate.
Planning for Healthy Babies covers family planning. It also covers inter-pregnancy (IPC) which includes family planning and Resource Mother. It also covers case management and Resource Mother, only, for current Medicaid recipients.
It includes coverage for family planning initial exam and annual exam, family planning related services including contraceptives and supplies, follow up family planning visits, pregnancy tests, pap smears, testing for STD’s, treatment and follow up for all STDs (excluding HIV/Aids and Hepatitis), conseling and referrals to social services and primary health care providers, sterilization, family planning pharmacy visits, vitamins and folic acid, and select immunizations for participants who are age 19 or 20.
Women who give birth to a baby who weighs less than 3 pounds, five ounces, are eligible for Planning for Healthy Babies coverage. Other eligibility requirements include the woman’s age. She must be between age 18 and 44. There are monthly family income limits that must be met. The program is for women who do not receive Medicaid and are eligible for family planning services.
Image by Elysa Rice on Flickr