Investigators at University of Minnesota Report Findings in Insurance (Racial/ethnic Disparities In Postpartum Health Insurance Coverage Among Rural and Urban Us Residents): Insurance

2022 SEP 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Data detailed on Insurance have been presented. According to news originating from Minneapolis, Minnesota, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Half of maternal deaths occur during the postpartum year, with data suggesting greater risks among Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and rural residents. Being insured after childbirth improves postpartum health-related outcomes, and recent policy efforts focus on extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 1 year postpartum.”

Financial supporters for this research include Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under PHS, National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Minnesota, “The purpose of this study is to describe postpartum health insurance coverage for rural and urban U.S. residents who are BIPOC compared to those who are white. Using data from the 2016-2019 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (n = 150,273), we describe health insurance coverage categorized as Medicaid, commercial, or uninsured at the time of childbirth and postpartum. We measured continuity of insurance coverage across these periods, focusing on postpartum Medicaid disruptions. Analyses were conducted among white and BIPOC residents from rural and urban U.S. counties. Three-quarters (75.3%) of rural white people and 85.3% of urban white people were continuously insured from childbirth to postpartum, compared to 60.5% of rural BIPOC people and 65.6% of urban BIPOC people. Postpartum insurance disruptions were frequent among people with Medicaid coverage at childbirth, particularly among BIPOC individuals, compared to those with private insurance; 17.0% of rural BIPOC residents had Medicaid at birth and became uninsured postpartum compared with 3.4% of urban white people. Health insurance coverage at childbirth, postpartum, and across these timepoints varies by race/ethnicity and rural compared with urban residents.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Policy efforts to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage may reduce inequities at the intersection of racial/ethnic identity and rural geography.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Racial/ethnic Disparities In Postpartum Health Insurance Coverage Among Rural and Urban Us Residents. Journal of Women s Health, 2022. Journal of Women s Health can be contacted at: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc, 140 Huguenot Street, 3RD Fl, New Rochelle, NY 10801, USA.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Katy B. B. Kozhimannil, University of Minnesota, Rural Health Research Center, Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, United States. Additional authors for this research include Julia D. D. Interrante, Bridget Basile Ibrahim, Phoebe Chastain, Maya J. J. Millette, Lindsay K. K. Admon and Jamie Daw.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2022.0169. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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