Studies from Columbia University Provide New Data on Managed Care (When the Bough Breaks: the Financial Burden of Childbirth and Postpartum Care By Insurance Type): Managed Care

2024 DEC 12 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Managed Care are presented in a new report. According to news reporting from New York City, New York, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Out-of-pocket (OOP) costs related to childbirth and postpartum care may cause financial hardship, depending on type of insurance and income. We estimated OOP spending on childbirth and postpartum care and financial strain 1 year after birth, comparing Medicaid-insured births with commercially insured births.”

Funders for this research include Columbia World Projects, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, New Jersey Department of Health, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Virginia Department of Health, Rutgers Bloustein Center for Survey Research, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention - USA.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Columbia University, “The Postpartum Assessment of Health Survey followed up with respondents to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System after a 2020 birth in six states and New York City. The survey included questions on health care costs and financial well-being. Our analytic sample consisted of 4,453 postpartum people, 1,544 with a Medicaid-insured birth and 2,909 with a commercially insured birth. We observe significant financial hardship from childbirth that persists into the postpartum year, with significant differences by insurance and income. We find Medicaid is highly financially protective relative to commercial insurance; 81.4% of Medicaid-insured births were free to the patient, compared with 15.7% of commercially insured births (p < 0.001). Six of ten commercially insured births (59%) cost over $1,000 OOP. Among respondents reporting OOP costs for childbirth, we found that Medicaid enrollees are more likely to have borrowed money from friends or family to pay for childbirth (8% vs. 1%, p< 0.001) and one in five had not made any payments 1 year postpartum (26% vs. 5% of commercially insured births, p< 0.001). Among the commercially insured, those with incomes under 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) fared worse financially than those above 200% FPL on a number of indicators, including debt in collection (33% vs. 13%, p< 0.001) and financial worry (55% vs. 34%, p< 0.001). The cost of childbirth and postpartum health care results in significant and persistent financial hardship, particularly for families with lower income with commercial insurance.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Medicaid offers greater protection for families with low income by offering reduced cost sharing for childbirth and postpartum health care, but even minimal cost sharing in Medicaid causes financial strain.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: When the Bough Breaks: the Financial Burden of Childbirth and Postpartum Care By Insurance Type. Milbank Quarterly, 2024. Milbank Quarterly can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Milbank Quarterly - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-0009)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Heidi Allen, Columbia University, School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Ave, Rm 709, New York, NY 10027, United States. Additional authors for this research include Mandi Spishak-Thomas, Kristen Underhill, Chen Liu and Jamie R. Daw.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12721. 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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