Wisconsin passes expanded Medicaid for moms, would leave Arkansas as only state without it

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Women in Wisconsin will soon be eligible to receive expanded Medicaid coverage for up to a year after giving birth following near-unanimous passage of a measure Thursday by the Wisconsin Assembly that would leave Arkansas as the only state yet to expand such benefits.

Wisconsin Democrats, and even most Republicans, have pushed for years to expand Medicaid coverage for new mothers, only to be blocked by powerful Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. Vos had argued that he opposed expanding welfare programs, but he relented late Wednesday.

The Assembly on Thursday also unanimously passed another bill with bipartisan support to require insurance to cover additional cancer screenings for women with dense breast tissue. The Medicaid bill passed 95-1.

Both measures overwhelming passed the state Senate already, meaning they will next go to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers who is expected to sign them next week.

Once that happens, Arkansas will be the only state without expanded Medicaid coverage for new mothers.

The state — which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country — did pass significant maternal healthcare legislation last year. Pregnant women are now allowed to temporarily receive Medicaid coverage while their eligibility is being processed, and Medicaid covers doula services and remote monitoring of vitals.

But the legislation did not extend postpartum Medicaid coverage, to the chagrin of Democrats and some Republicans.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, called for the maternal health package after opposing the postpartum extension, saying that there are other coverage options.

In Wisconsin, the Medicaid expansion and breast cancer screening bills broke a logjam that comes amid a flurry of last-minute negotiations near the end of the two-year legislative session. Republicans and Evers were also trying to negotiate a package of tax cuts, school spending and other measures, tapping the state's estimated $2.5 billion budget surplus.

Democratic Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer led the charge for passage of the Medicaid and breast cancer screening bills. Neubauer announced on Wednesday that she was pregnant and that her mother had breast cancer, saying that Democrats would “stop at nothing to get a vote on these bills.” She called the expected passage of both measures "an incredible win for women and the people of Wisconsin.”

Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, had also shared stories about how their loved ones had been affected by breast cancer as part of the push for passage of the screening bill.

The Medicaid expansion will allow low-income mothers who make more than the poverty level to remain on the state's Medicaid program for a full year after giving birth, instead of the current two months.

Despite agreement on those measures, several other high-profile bills were poised to die at the end of the session. Republicans have not agreed on a measure to provide funding to keep WisconsinEye, a nonprofit state version of CSPAN, on the air.

And the state's nearly 40-year-old land conservation program also faced extinction as lawmakers had yet to agree on a plan to continue funding beyond June 30.

Republicans have complained for years that the program is too expensive and removes too much land from property tax rolls, hurting municipalities. Bills to keep it alive, but with dramatically less funding, have yet to pass.

Associated Press writers Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.

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 in the state Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — In the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli airstrikes are still a regular occurrence despite a ceasefire, residents of the city of Khan Younis were following the results of Israel’s election closely, hoping that anyone but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government.

“All of their policies towards Gaza are tough, but we choose the lesser of two evils,” resident Ayman Ahmed said.

Ahmed said that he hoped Netanyahu’s main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, would prevail, noting that he supports U.S. President Donald Trump's road map for Gaza.

The plan calls for disarming the Hamas militant group and installing a new U.S.-backed government. But it also requires Israel to withdraw forces and allow reconstruction to begin.

Most of Gaza’s 2 million people remain displaced, living in the bombed-out ruins of their former homes or in squalid tent camps.

Netanyahu agreed to the Trump plan, but never carried it out beyond the initial stage of a partial withdrawal and increased aid in exchange for the return of the final hostages, alive and dead, held by Hamas. The plan has been largely frozen for nearly a year.

In the rubble-strewn streets near the city’s Nasser Hospital, Mohammed Abed said that a Netanyahu win would be seen as a victory for his agenda, but that he didn’t expect major changes no matter who is in power.

Eisenkot is a former military chief who favors tough responses against Israel’s enemies.

“An Eisenkot victory will not dramatically change the situation, because their policies are almost similar,” Abed said. “In the end, it will be the same.”

Underscoring Abed's pessimism, two strikes in Khan Younis on Wednesday killed one man and wounded at least six other people, according to health officials at Nasser Hospital. Israel’s military didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than 1,550 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began in October 2025, according to the territory’s health ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, doesn't distinguish between civilians and militants, though it says women and children make up roughly half of the dead.

Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory offensive killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed much of Gaza.

Hasan al-Masri, who was displaced from his home in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, said that he desperately hoped the election would bring change to Gaza.

“We pray to God that these elections bring a positive outcome for us,” he said. "We have been utterly devastated; nothing remains. They have killed our children, destroyed our homes, and everything we had is gone.”

The future of Gaza was barely an issue in the Israeli election campaign, and the only major candidate to talk in favor of the two-state solution was Yair Golan, the head of the small Democrats party.

Asked whether the possibility of a future Palestinian state was something that people in Gaza were hoping for, Ahmed said “only people outside Gaza care about these topics” and that their main concern was finding enough food to eat.

He said that he feared a Netanyahu win would bring more war, however, and more suffering.

“We support any effort to bring down Netanyahu,” he said.

Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo, and David Rising in Bangkok, contributed to this report.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to his supporters at Likud party headquarters in Jerusalem after the release of the first exit poll results in Israel's general election, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)