Reports on Managed Care Findings from Columbia University Provide New Insights (The Health and Social Needs of Medicaid Beneficiaries In the Postpartum Year: Evidence From a Multistate Survey): Managed Care

2024 JAN 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- A new study on Managed Care is now available. According to news reporting originating in New York City, New York, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “As of September 2023, thirty-seven states and Washington, D.C., had adopted the option in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to extend pregnancy Medicaid eligibility to one year postpartum. To inform state initiatives to support this newly covered population, we conducted a representative survey of postpartum people in six states and New York City from January 2021 to March 2022.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Columbia University, “Compared with respondents who had commercial insurance at the time of childbirth, Medicaid respondents were less likely to have a usual source of care and reported less use of primary, specialty, and dental care in the postpartum year. Depression symptoms and social concerns such as food insecurity, intimate partner violence, and financial strain were significantly higher in the Medicaid population. Rates of anxiety symptoms, delaying or not getting needed care, and unsatisfactory child care were similar in both populations. Our findings suggest that postpartum Medicaid extensions should be coupled with state initiatives to address beneficiaries’ health and social needs.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “National investments in data collection on postpartum people will be critical to support evidence-based policy making to improve maternal health and well-being.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: The Health and Social Needs of Medicaid Beneficiaries In the Postpartum Year: Evidence From a Multistate Survey. Health Affairs, 2023;42(11):1575-1585. Health Affairs can be contacted at: Project Hope, 7500 Old Georgetown Rd, Ste 600, Bethesda, MD 20814-6133, USA.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Jamie R. Daw, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States. Additional authors for this research include Chen Liu, Heidi L. Allen and Kristen Underhill.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00541. 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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