Postpartum Care Utilization Among Emergency Medicaid Recipients

• Published in: Journal of immigrant and minority health Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 1121 - 1125
• Main Authors: Funkhouser, Suzanne, Bullard, Kimberley A., Hersh, Alyssa R., Greiner, Karen S., Rodriguez, Maria I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Birth control; Brief Communication; Childbirth & labor; Comparative Law; Emergency medical services; Government programs; Health services utilization; Immigrants; Insurance coverage; International & Foreign Law; Legislation; Low income groups; Medicaid; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Postpartum period; Pregnancy; Prenatal care; Private International Law; Public Health; Sociology; Oregon; United States > US
• ISSN: 1557-1912; 1557-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s10903-021-01188-6

Improving postpartum care and contraception use is a public health priority in the United States (US); however, lowincome immigrants are a uniquely vulnerable group that remains largely excluded from care [1]. By federal law, Emergency Medicaid (EM) provides coverage only for life threatening conditions and childbirth for low-income immigrants, but does not cover prenatal or postpartum care [2]. Currently, little is known about health care utilization and preferences of pregnant women with EM. Women with EM may lack knowledge of this new coverage, which may exacerbate already low utilization of care secondary to fear of deportation. We sought to determine whether there are diferences in knowledge regarding postpartum care by Medicaid type in the setting of recent state legislation coverage expansion in Oregon.