Mental Health and Postpartum Care in California: Implications from California's Provisional Postpartum Care Extension

California's Provisional Postpartum Care Extension (PPCE) extended Medicaid eligibility through 1 year postpartum for women enrolled in Medi-Cal with annual household incomes of 138%–322% of the federal poverty level and maternal mental health diagnoses. For this cross-sectional descriptive study, we used the 2017 Listening to Mothers in California survey of postpartum women to identify those potentially eligible for PPCE. We then sought to describe their demographic characteristics, self-reported mental health, and utilization of postpartum care and mental health services compared with those with Medi-Cal during pregnancy who did not meet PPCE eligibility criteria. Overall, potentially PPCE-eligible women comprised 6.8% of respondents. Among those who did not qualify for PPCE, the primary reason was the absence of self-reported maternal mental health symptoms. Potentially PPCE-eligible women were approximately two-thirds Hispanic/Latina and more than one-third were ages 25 to 29. The most common self-reported mental health symptom was anxiety during pregnancy (78.9%). Among potentially PPCE-eligible women, 8.4% were taking medicine for anxiety/depression postpartum and 16.0% were receiving postpartum counseling/treatment for emotional or mental well-being. Our analyses suggest that PPCE could have extended postpartum coverage eligibility for approximately 30,360 women statewide. However, our findings demonstrate how narrowly defined PPCE eligibility criteria likely excluded many postpartum women in Medi-Cal who would have been left with limited benefits or more cost-sharing under alternative coverage options. This research could inform state and federal policymakers considering other proposals to extend postpartum Medicaid eligibility.