A top Georgia legislative leader is throwing his support behind a plan to lengthen health insurance for mothers of newborns. House Speaker David Ralston says he's trying to cut Georgia's high rate of mothers dying after birth. The plan is projected to cost $19 million.
It would provide six months of coverage after birth to mothers on Medicaid, up from two months now. A study shows African American, rural and older mothers are most likely to die. Fewer than 100 post-birth mothers die in a year, but the death rate in one recent three-year period was 50% above the national rate.