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While the exact reasons for the recent declines in early prenatal care use are not known, disparities in maternal and infant health reflect underlying inequities in insurance coverage, access to care, and social and economic factors.
Noncitizen immigrants, particularly those who are undocumented, face significant barriers to accessing health coverage and care and are significantly more likely than citizens to be uninsured. This brief provides an overview of state health coverage programs for immigrants, including among states that have taken up options in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to expand coverage for lawfully present immigrants and/or established fully state-funded programs to fill gaps in coverage for immigrants.
An updated KFF issue brief on racial disparities in maternal and infant health includes new and updated analysis of data on pregnancy-related mortality, birth risks and infant mortality. The brief reviews the underlying factors contributing to maternal and infant health racial disparities, ranging from historical and ongoing racism to differences in access to health care and coverage and other social and economic factors that drive health. With recent attention to this issue by federal and state…
In recent weeks, the United States has been grappling with a baby formula shortage following supply chain issues, a voluntary recall, and the closing of a plant that produces a large share of the country’s formula. Since it is recommended that infants receive breast milk or formula until they are age one, this shortage has had a significant impact across the country. Infants in low-income families and infants of color, who are often covered by…
A provision in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 gives states a new option to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months via a state plan amendment. This new option took effect on April 1, 2022 and is available to states for five years. Using Medicaid claims data from 2018, this brief examines enrollment patterns in the year following childbirth.
A new KFF analysis finds that hundreds of thousands of people are disenrolled from Medicaid each year after giving birth, which could be prevented if all states were to take up a new option to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months. The estimate – based on analysis of Medicaid claims data from 2018 – finds that 610,000 postpartum women were disenrolled within a year of giving birth, accounting for about 40 percent of the…
This brief and side-by-side tables reviews the key health issues that are likely to have a direct impact on women’s health as well as their access to coverage and care, and summarizes the presidential candidates’ stated positions and records on these issues.
This brief provides a summary of Medicaid’s role for pregnant women and infants and current Medicaid initiatives to improve maternal and infant health.
Republicans More Likely to Expect Positive Changes Than Democrats or Independents Large Majority Favors Continued Medicaid Funding to Planned Parenthood Fielded March 6-12 as Americans were first learning about the American Health Care Act and before the Congressional Budget Office estimated its effects, the latest Kaiser Tracking Poll shows that large shares of the public expect the House Republican health care plan would result in fewer people having health insurance and higher costs for people…
Jennifer Kates, Senior Vice President and Director of KFF’s Global Health & HIV Policy program, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs as part of a hearing on Unique Challenges Women Face in Global Health. Her testimony describes the role of the U.S. government in women’s global health and highlights challenges and opportunities to strengthen these efforts.
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