Research Reports on Health and Medicine from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Provide New Insights (Health Insurance Coverage and Postpartum Outcomes in the US): Health and Medicine

2023 JUN 21 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on agriculture is the subject of a new report. According to news originating from Baltimore, Maryland, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Importance: Approximately half of postpartum individuals in the US do not receive any routine postpartum health care.”

Our news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health: “Currently, federal Medicaid coverage for pregnant individuals lapses after the last day of the month in which the 60th postpartum day occurs, which limits longer-term postpartum care. To assess whether health insurance coverage extension or improvements in access to health care are associated with postpartum health care utilization and maternal outcomes within 1 year post partum. Evidence Review: Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, CINAHL, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for US-based studies from inception to November 16, 2022. The reference lists of relevant systematic reviews were scanned for potentially eligible studies. Risk of bias was assessed using questions from the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and the Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions tool. Strength of evidence (SoE) was assessed using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Guide.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “A total of 25 973 citations were screened and 28 mostly moderate-risk-of-bias nonrandomized studies were included (3 423 781 participants) that addressed insurance type (4 studies), policy changes that made insurance more comprehensive (13 studies), policy changes that made insurance less comprehensive (2 studies), and Medicaid expansion (9 studies). Findings with moderate SoE suggested that more comprehensive association was likely associated with greater attendance at postpartum visits. Findings with low SoE indicated a possible association between more comprehensive insurance and fewer preventable readmissions and emergency department visits. Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this systematic review suggest that evidence evaluating insurance coverage and postpartum visit attendance and unplanned care utilization is, at best, of moderate SoE. Future research should evaluate clinical outcomes associated with more comprehensive insurance coverage.”

For more information on this research see: Health Insurance Coverage and Postpartum Outcomes in the US. JAMA Network Open, 2023,6(6). (JAMA Network Open - https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen). The publisher for JAMA Network Open is American Medical Association (AMA).

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.16536.

Our news journalists report that more information may be obtained by contacting Ian J. Saldanha, Center for Clinical Trials and Evidence Synthesis, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Additional authors for this research include Gaelen P. Adam, Ghid Kanaan, Michael L. Zahradnik, Dale W. Steele, Kenneth K. Chen, Alex F. Peahl, Valery A. Danilack-Fekete, Alison M. Stuebe, Ethan M. Balk.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)