Vox
By: Julia Belluz and Nina Martin
The only way to solve America’s maternal mortality problem is to fix its insurance problem. That’s the clear takeaway from a widening pool of research. The majority of deaths involving pregnancy and childbirth aren’t happening in the delivery room, they’re happening after a woman has a baby — sometimes months after.
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Even women who are privately insured frequently run into trouble getting the postpartum care they need. “[Obamacare] took a giant step forward for women to have an affordable coverage option during their reproductive years,” said Joan Alker, a professor at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. But many states — even those that have embraced the Medicaid expansion that was at the heart of the Affordable Care Act — have large coverage gaps.
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