Unmarried fathers’ rights possible road to betterment and the stopping of repayments to Medicaid.
Some states are planning to cancel repayments to Medicaid. (Photo: Eskew Law)
An Addition To The Unmarried Fathers’ Rights
Dane County in Wisconsin plans to add another right to unmarried fathers’ rights by stopping them from repaying the state Medicaid program for the birth costs of their children in cases before 2020.
This is a move to better the unmarried fathers’ rights as well as to curtail a practice that opponents argue contributes to poor birth outcomes by requiring pregnant women to disclose the fathers of their children or risk losing Medicaid coverage after childbirth.
The stress caused by birth cost recovery, particularly impacting Black and Native American families, can lead to preterm birth and infant problems that disproportionately affect these communities in which the new move in line with unmarried fathers’ rights will be of help.
Concerning unmarried fathers’ rights, Wisconsin is estimated to be among eight or fewer states that try to recover some of the expenses covered by Medicaid from fathers who are not married to the mothers, with proponents arguing that it helps to maintain the solvency of Medicaid and promotes paternal responsibility.
The birth cost money doesn’t directly benefit the child but is collected through court orders by county child support agencies, with 15% kept by the counties and the rest returned to Medicaid, as what is the unmarried fathers’ rights state.
In 2020, 66% of Medicaid deliveries occurred under the unmarried fathers’ rights in Wisconsin, and among Black deliveries, 88% were unmarried and subject to birth cost recovery.
According to a published article by Kenosha News, as of last year, about unmarried fathers’ rights, Wisconsin counties were collecting $106 million in birth cost judgments in over 78,000 cases, with Milwaukee County having $69.2 million and Dane County having $6.8 million.
In 2018, the state instructed counties to stop birth cost recovery to better the unmarried fathers’ rights and if the unmarried father was part of an “intact family” living with the mother and supporting the child.
Equity For Newborns
In a published article by the Wisconsin Examiner, these changes are viewed as a step towards equity for newborns and their parents living in poverty.
argue that this practice does not directly support the child but goes towards government budgets, with counties keeping a portion of the collected money.
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