Investigators at University of Southern Florida Describe Findings in Managed Care (Factors Associated With Medicaid Participation Among Infants Born With Birth Defects In Texas, 2010-2014): Managed Care

2022 SEP 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Researchers detail new data in Managed Care. According to news reporting out of Tampa, Florida, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Birth defects are major contributors to healthcare resource use, disability, and mortality, particularly during the perinatal period. As the nation’s public insurance program for low-income individuals, Medicaid funds a large proportion of healthcare costs associated with birth defects.”

Financial supporters for this research include Centers for Disease Control & Prevention - USA, Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Southern Florida, “Here, we explore birth defect-related factors associated with Medicaid participation in the first year of life. Infants born with birth defects between 2010 and 2014 were linked from the Texas Birth Defects Registry to the state’s Medicaid claims database. Variation in Medicaid participation was examined by individual birth defect and by birth defect characteristics. The associations between covariates and Medicaid participation are described using percentages and adjusted prevalence ratios (APR). Of the 107,968 infants included in this study, 55,172 (51.1%) participated in Medicaid. Medicaid participation ranged from 12.1% for anencephaly to 77.8% for total anomalous pulmonary venous connection. An indicator of defect severity was associated with an increased likelihood of participation (APR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.20-1.23). Medicaid participation was 60.8% for individuals with multiple major defects, compared with 45.4% for those without (APR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.22-1.25). Among individual birth defects, Medicaid participation was almost universally higher for those co-occurring with other major defects. We detected large variations in Medicaid participation by individual birth defect. Infants participating in Medicaid tended to have more severe defects and were more likely to have multiple major defects.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Medicaid claims databases can serve as valuable sources of data for surveillance efforts and observational studies, but care should be taken when generalizing findings.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Factors Associated With Medicaid Participation Among Infants Born With Birth Defects In Texas, 2010-2014. Birth Defects Research, 2022;114(15):895-905. Birth Defects Research can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Jason L. Salemi, University of Southern Florida, College of Public Health, Tampa, FL 33620, United States. Additional authors for this research include Justin Swanson, Charlie Shumate, Mark A. Canfield, A. J. Agopian and Laura E. Mitchell.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1002/bdr2.2077. 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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