Democratic Wisconsin Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, surrounded by Democratic colleagues, speaks in support of measures to expand Medicaid coverage for new mothers and insurance coverage for breast exams at a news conference Feb. 18 in the state Capitol in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer, file)

Thousands of mothers in Wisconsin will now have access to postpartum Medicaid coverage after Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill extending the program from 60 days to one year.

The effort has been years in the making, with Evers including it in all four of his proposed budgets since he took office in 2019.

In a news release after he signed the bill, Evers said he’s proud to have gotten it “across the finish line.”

“It was one of the very first things I announced back in 2019 as part of my very first budget,” Evers wrote. “That’s how long I’ve been fighting to get this done, folks.”

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, nearly half of pregnancy-related deaths occur during the postpartum period, and nearly all of those deaths are preventable.

DHS Secretary Kirsten Johnson said she is grateful that Evers has advocated for policies to improve infant and maternal health.

“Supporting new moms and their babies in the first year of life is critical for the long-term physical and mental health for both,” she wrote in the press release.

Prior to the bill being signed, Wisconsin was one of just two states that hadn’t extended postpartum Medicaid coverage. But it passed with bipartisan support.

During floor debate last month, state Rep. Robyn Vining, D-Wauwatosa, said the bill would save lives.

“Postpartum Medicaid expansion will prevent preventable deaths, give women the health care, including the mental health care that they need as they care for their newborns,” Vining said. “It is the common ground that serves the common good, and it is very soon going to be the law of the land.”

And state Rep. Barbara Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, said it was a bill she could easily say yes to.

“We mothers know the toll of caring for a baby their first year of life. It is exhausting. There can be many complications, and this bill just makes sense,” Dittrich said.

Expanded coverage for new moms begins July 1.