Maternal & Early Childhood Health
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Maternal health improved by Medicaid coverage, study says
Modern Healthcare By: Steven Johnson Expanded access to Medicaid was associated with 1.6 fewer maternal deaths per 100,000 women compared with states that didn’t expand the program, according to a new study. The infant death rate also fell more dramatically in Medicaid expansion states—by more than 50% from 2010 to 2016. Those findings were in…
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Solution to Maternal Health Crisis Must Center on Medicaid
Earlier this month, CCF submitted comments to the Senate Finance Committee with recommendations to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity and help mothers and babies thrive together. At the heart of our comments was this: Medicaid must be at the center of any efforts to solve to this crisis. Here’s why. Medicaid paid for nearly half…
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Maternal Depression Costs Society Billions Each Year, New Model Finds
The most common pregnancy complication is also among the costliest, for moms, babies and society at large. A new cost model created by researchers at Mathematica finds that untreated mood and anxiety disorders among pregnant women and new moms cost about $14.2 billion for births in 2017, when following the mom and child pair for…
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Pregnancy-Related Deaths Are Rising In Utah. Experts say extending Medicaid Could Help Those At Risk
KUER 90.1- Utah’s NPR By: Erik Nuemann … But one of the best ways Utah and other states can slow this increase is by expanding coverage of Medicaid health insurance for pregnant women, according to new research released Wednesday. That’s a politically controversial issue in Utah, though, where coverage gaps remain following the limited expansion state…
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One In Four Texas Women Of Childbearing Age Doesn’t Have Health Insurance.
KUT 90.5 – Austin’s NPR Station By: Ashley Lopez Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured women between the ages of 18 to 44, according to a new study from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. The study found that, nationwide, 12.3 percent of women of childbearing age don’t have health insurance. The rate…
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Texas Has the Highest Uninsured Rate in the Country. Lawmakers Haven’t Addressed it This Session.
Texas Observer By: Sophie Novack Texas has the highest overall uninsured rate in the country, the highest rate of uninsured kids and the highest rate of uninsured women of childbearing age. Yet the Legislature is on track to wrap up for the next two years without passing bills to expand coverage… Meanwhile, a study released Wednesday found that Texas has…
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New Research Finds Medicaid Gains Help Lead to Healthier Mothers and Babies
(Following is the press release we issued today on a new report “Medicaid Expansion Fills the Gaps in Maternal Health Coverage Leading to Healthier Mothers and Babies” by Adam Searing and Donna Cohen Ross.) Medicaid helps fill the gaps in maternal health coverage and leads to healthier babies and mothers, according to a new report…
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Medicaid Expansion Fills Gaps in Maternal Health Coverage Leading to Healthier Mothers and Babies
Introduction Disruptions in health coverage are associated with adverse health consequences.[note] B.D. Sommers et al., “Insurance Churning Rates For LowIncome Adults Under Health Reform: Lower Than Expected But Still Harmful For Many,” Health Affairs 35, no. 10 (October 2016), available at https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0455.[/note] This is especially true for women in their childbearing years, when a pregnancy…
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Oklahoma’s Medicaid Waiver Proposal Will Harm Its Most Vulnerable Families
Unfortunately, our series of reports looking at harmful state Medicaid work requirement rules targeting very poor parents is getting longer. Today we are releasing an updated look at Oklahoma’s proposal, which is currently up for public comment at the federal level. Six states now have active proposals – Mississippi, Alabama, and South Dakota have proposals…
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New Report Finds South Carolina’s Medicaid Waiver Would Leave Thousands of Poor Parents Uninsured
[Editor’s Note: On March 4, 2019 South Carolina posted a revised application for state public comment.] Just before the holidays, South Carolina posted its application for new work-related reporting rules for very low-income parents and caretaker relatives with incomes below 67 percent of the poverty line who are insured through Medicaid. Today we partnered with South Carolina…
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The MOM Model: New CMS Initiative Aims to Improve Systems of Care for Pregnant and Postpartum Women with Opioid Use Disorder
The CMS Innovation Center announced a new tool to help address the devastating impact our nation’s growing opioid crisis is having on pregnant and postpartum women and their infants. The Maternal Opioid Misuse (MOM) model is the latest approach in CMS’s strategy to tackle the opioid crisis in a key population group, expectant and new…
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Promoting Young Children’s Healthy Development in Medicaid and CHIP
Summary A child’s brain develops most rapidly in the earliest years of life, building the foundation for learning, behavior and health. Medicaid—as the primary source of health coverage for young, low-income children— is a logical system to reach families with young children and set them on a path of healthy physical, social, and emotional development.…
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African American Women Mayors Champion Policies to Improve Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes
The United States has a dismal track record when it comes to maternal and infant mortality. One of the wealthiest countries in the world, the U.S. has fallen behind and now ranks 32nd in maternal mortality and 33rd in infant mortality out of the 36 wealthiest nations. Within the U.S., the infant mortality rate varies…
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Plan on Opioid Crisis is Missing a Proven Strategy that Could Double Number of Those Getting Treatment
A June 11 press release headlined: “CMS leverages Medicaid Program to combat the Opioid crisis,” touts the Trump Administration’s commitment to addressing the growing problem of opioid addiction. In the press release, Secretary Azar is quoted as saying: “Today’s announcement reflects the Trump Administration and HHS’s commitment to helping states use Medicaid to support treatment for…
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Want to Reduce your State’s Infant Mortality Rate? Try Expanding Medicaid
Evidence continues to build on the benefits of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion for adults: improving health coverage and access, promoting family economic security, and creating peace of mind for the whole family (including, and especially, children). And here’s another study for the maternal and child health community: A new study published online last week in the American Journal…
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Which Parents Would Still be Covered if Medicaid Expansion Goes Away?
Given discussions in Congress to eliminate the Medicaid expansion over time, the question has arisen as to which parents would still be covered if expansion went away. In the first year of ACA implementation, expansion states accounted for the majority of the estimated 1.1 million parents who gained coverage. And, in 2015, the uninsurance rate…
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Health Coverage for Parents and Caregivers Helps Children
Children’s healthy development depends to a large extent on the health and well-being of their parents and caregivers. Covering parents and caregivers helps children get the care and family financial stability they need to thrive.
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How the AHCA Yanks Welcome Mat Out From Under Children Eligible for Medicaid and CHIP
The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) coverage provisions did not target children’s eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP. It was aimed at closing the coverage gap for adults – both adults without dependent children, who were generally ineligible for Medicaid, and parents, whose pre-ACA Medicaid eligibility was well below the poverty level in many states. Yet, we…
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Covering Parents and Caregivers Helps Kids – Many Gained Health Coverage Through the ACA
While we focus a lot on the critical importance of health coverage for children, we are equally mindful of the importance of parent coverage and its impacts on children. Say Ahhh! readers well know some of the important ways in which covering parents helps kids. Providing coverage to parents rolls out a welcome mat—meaning more…
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Healthy Parents and Caregivers are Essential to Children’s Healthy Development
Since 2014, millions of parents and other adults have been able to access health insurance for the first time either through the Medicaid expansion (10 million) or the new marketplaces (11.5 million) created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The rate of uninsured adults under age 65 declined significantly in 2014, the first year of…
