Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2025
14:43
A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting
Published on: January 12, 2018
11.8K
Medicaid Expansion and Perinatal Health Outcomes: A Quasi-Experimental Study
Sepideh Modrek1, Daniel F Collin2, Rita Hamad2,3
1Health Equity Institute, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Maternal and Child Health Journal
|January 20, 2024
Summary
Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) did not significantly impact health outcomes for birthing parents or infants. This study found no association between expanded insurance coverage and key maternal or child health indicators.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Services Research
- Health Economics
Background:
- Limited evidence exists on the impact of Affordable Care Act (ACA) preventive services on maternal and infant health.
- The ACA's Medicaid expansion aimed to increase insurance coverage for low-income populations, including pregnant individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between Medicaid expansion under the ACA and health outcomes for birthing parents and infants.
- To address the gap in understanding the effects of expanded insurance coverage on maternal and child health.
Main Methods:
- Utilized individual-level data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), 2004-2017.
- Examined outcomes including prenatal care timing, gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders, smoking, postpartum care, breastfeeding, preterm birth, and birth weight.
- Employed difference-in-differences estimation to assess the impact of ACA Medicaid expansion.
Main Results:
- No statistically significant association was found between Medicaid expansion and the examined birthing parent or infant health outcomes.
- Results remained robust across multiple sensitivity analyses, indicating consistency of findings.
Conclusions:
- Expanded insurance benefits through Medicaid expansion did not demonstrably improve maternal or infant health outcomes in the studied population.
- The findings suggest that for pregnant individuals, who already have high insurance coverage rates, further expansion of benefits may not yield significant health improvements for examined outcomes.
