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Maternal minimum-stay legislation: cost and policy implications
1Center for Health Administration Studies, University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. k-raube@uchicago.edu
Objectives:
Recently, most state legislatures and Congress have passed laws mandating insurance coverage for a minimum period of inpatient care following delivery. This study analyzed the likely cost implications of one state's law.
Methods:
Hospital discharge records for Illinois women who gave birth (n = 167,769) and infants born (n = 164,905) during a 12-month period predating the law were analyzed.
Results:
As a percentage of total spending on birth-related admissions and readmissions, the net effect of the law ranges from a savings of 0.1% to a cost of 20.2%.
Conclusions:
There may be large cost implications to this legislation, even with savings from avoided re-admissions.