Study Results from University of Chicago in the Area of Contraception Reported (Denial of Tubal Ligation In Religious Hospitals: Consumer Attitudes When Insurance Limits Hospital Choice)

2021 AUG 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Contraception are presented in a new report. According to news reporting out of Chicago, Illinois, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Postpartum tubal ligation provides demonstrated benefits to women, but access to this procedure is threatened by restrictions at Catholic healthcare institutions. We aimed to understand how insured employees assign responsibility for postpartum sterilization denial and how it impacts their view of the quality of care provided.”

Financial support for this research came from Tara Health Foundation, San Francisco, CA.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Chicago, “We conducted a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of employees at Standard and Poor & rsquo;s (S&P) 500 companies utilizing a dual panel drawn from Amerispeak, a probability-based research panel, and a non-probability panel. Respondents answered questions about a scenario of a woman denied a tubal ligation due to Catholic hospital policy when her employer-sponsored insurance provided no other hospital choices. Of 1113 eligible panel members, 1001 (90%) completed the survey. Weighted analysis accounted for complex survey design. In response to the tubal ligation denial scenario, 42% of respondents rated hospital quality-of care as poor or very poor. Sixty percent felt that something should have been done differently, with about half assigning responsibility to the religiously-affiliated hospital for not providing the procedure and half to the insurance company for not including secular hospitals in its network. Finding employers/insurance companies responsible was more common with higher education (RRR = 3.17; 95% CI: 1.58 & ndash;6.33 some college; RRR = 4.26; 95% CI: 2.10 & ndash;8.62 bachelor & rsquo;s or more) and less common among non-white respondents (RRR = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.31 & ndash;0.97). Three quarters of respondents thought the employer should have intervened. The majority of insured employees do not think women should be denied postpartum tubal ligation. They assign hospitals, insurers, and employers responsibility to remove barriers to care. Most people who receive health insurance through a large employer disapprove of Catholic hospital restrictions when the patient & rsquo;s insurance restricts her hospital choice.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “To improve access to comprehensive reproductive care, employers and insurers should assure employees have in-network coverage of hospitals without religious restrictions.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Denial of Tubal Ligation In Religious Hospitals: Consumer Attitudes When Insurance Limits Hospital Choice. Contraception, 2021;104(2):194-201. Contraception can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Contraception - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/contraception/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Debra B. Stulberg, University of Chicago, Dept. of Family Medicine, Chicago, IL 60637, United States. Additional authors for this research include Kellie E. Schueler, Luciana E. Hebert, Erin E. Wingo and Lori R. Freedman.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2021.02.011. 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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