Pregnant women in Arkansas can qualify for pregnancy Medicaid coverage if they have household incomes up to 214% of the federal poverty level, equating to a household income of $43,742 for a family of two or $66,768 for a family of four under the current federal poverty guidelines. Arkansas Medicaid coverage in this aid category expires 60 days after the birth of the child — the shortest time limit in the nation — but mothers may be eligible to transition into another type of coverage. Act 161 of 2024 requires Arkansas Medicaid officials to redetermine the eligibility of new mothers and enroll them in the appropriate category of Medicaid, if they qualify, within eight weeks after they give birth. 

The impact on the Arkansas budget of implementing presumptive eligibility would likely be minimal. Medicaid officials in Mississippi, a state similar in population size to Arkansas, estimated last year that presumptive eligibility would cost that state $567,000 annually; the cost in Arkansas could be lower, because many Arkansas women in households with low incomes are already covered prior to pregnancy by the state’s Medicaid expansion program, Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me, or ARHOME, whereas Mississippi has not expanded Medicaid. 

As the governor’s maternal health panel has acknowledged, reducing Arkansas’s high maternal and infant mortality rates and improving outcomes along the birthing journey will require a variety of approaches, including presumptive eligibility, involving a broad spectrum of stakeholders. 

For more on maternal and infant health in Arkansas, see our topic page.