The Case for Extending Postpartum Medicaid Coverage
AcademyHealth's new series on human-centered stories demonstrate the real-world impact of health services research. The first story outlines what happens when postpartum Medicaid coverage is extended.
Many postpartum patients lose Medicaid insurance within two months if their state does not provide continuous postpartum coverage. The problem is, dangerous complications can arise months after birth, and about 60 percent of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. happen in the first year after birth.
When the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFRCA) was passed, states were required to keep Medicaid beneficiaries covered for up to 12 months after giving birth. Grantees from AcademyHealth’s Research in Transforming Health and Healthcare Systems (RTHS) program decided to use this opportunity to ask the question, “What happens when Medicaid postpartum coverage increases from 60 Days to 12 Months?”
AcademyHealth’s new series The Evidence Effect: Health Services Research in the Real World tells human-centered stories that demonstrate the real-world impact of health services research. The first story in the series outlines what RTHS grantees at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found when they spoke to postpartum Medicaid beneficiaries with extended coverage in New York, New Jersey, and Texas.
Learn more about the research and download the social media image carousel to share with your network here.
