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- Title
Relaxed Medicaid eligibility criteria lead to better prenatal care, but not to improved birth...
- Authors
Donovan, P.
- Abstract
This article presents information on medical care for pregnant women in the U.S. According to a Tennessee comparative study of pregnancy outcomes among Medicaid enrollees in the late 19805,1 pregnant women enrolled after implementation of presumptive eligibility were 30% more likely to have obtained prenatal care in the first trimester than comparable women giving birth before the policy change. They were also 16% more likely to have begun prenatal care before the third trimester and were three times as likely to have filled a prescription for pre- natal vitamins within the first 12 weeks of gestation. However, the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as low birth weight and neonatal, perinatal and infant mortality, did not differ appreciably between the two study groups. The study included 9,495 women who enrolled before implementation of presumptive eligibility and 9,702 who enrolled after implementation included in the latter group were 3,995 women (41 .2%) who enrolled under presumptive eligibility. Women were excluded from the study if they were already receiving Medicaid at the time they were estimated to have become pregnant. The analysis was further limited to black or white women who delivered a single live infant weighing between 500 g and 6,000 g (even if the baby had died before being enrolled in Medicaid) or a stillborn infant.
- Subjects
TENNESSEE; MEDICAID; PRENATAL care; PREGNANCY; WOMEN; MATERNAL health services
- Publication
Family Planning Perspectives, 1995, Vol 27, Issue 3, p130
- ISSN
0014-7354
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/2136114