Nearly Half Of U.S. Births Are Covered By Medicaid, Study Finds - şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř News /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/ şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř News produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is a core operating program of KFF. Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:00:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 /wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=32 Nearly Half Of U.S. Births Are Covered By Medicaid, Study Finds - şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř News /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/ 32 32 161476233 Nearly Half Of U.S. Births Are Covered By Medicaid, Study Finds /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/ /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comments Tue, 03 Sep 2013 18:42:42 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/


About half the births in the United States are paid for by Medicaid — a figure higher than previous estimates — and the numbers could increase as the state-federal health insurance program expands under the Affordable Care Act, according to a .

All pregnant women with incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty level, just below $15,300 for an individual, are eligible for Medicaid, and  to women earning well above that amount.

While previous research has estimated about 40 percent of the nearly 4 million annual births in the United States were paid for by Medicaid, the latest study by researchers at George Washington University and the March of Dimes looked at individual state data and estimated that in 2010 about 45 percent of births were covered by Medicaid. Researchers say they hope to use the figure as a baseline to determine the impact of the federal health law that expands Medicaid starting in January. Under the health law, about half the states are expanding Medicaid to cover everyone under 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

The percent of births paid for by Medicaid varied widely from a high of nearly 70 percent in Louisiana to below 30 percent in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the study found ().

Cynthia Pellegrini, senior vice president of public policy at the March of Dimes and a co-author of the study, said while poor women can access Medicaid when they are pregnant, the health law will help improve birth outcomes because women will be able to get the coverage before becoming pregnant. She said if women are healthier before they get pregnant, that will increase the chances of having a healthier baby. Women who gain Medicaid coverage when they are pregnant typically lose the coverage 60 days after giving birth. The health law could make some of them eligible to maintain coverage.

“We hope to see a gigantic improvement in birth outomes,” Pellegrini said.

The study was published in the September 2013 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Women’s Health Issues.

NOTE: The percent of births covered by Medicaid was changed from an earlier version of this story after The March of Dimes reported it had made an error  in its calculation.

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<img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="/?republication-pixel=true&post=6190&amp;ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0&quot; style="width:1px;height:1px;">]]> /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/feed/ 23 6190 Comments on: Nearly Half Of U.S. Births Are Covered By Medicaid, Study Finds /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/ şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř News produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is a core operating program of KFF. Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:00:34 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 By: Seven Ways the Senate Healthcare Bill Hurts Women - Ms. Magazine Blog /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9190 Fri, 23 Jun 2017 04:16:52 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9190 […] from pap smears to birth control, to mammograms. According to a previous study, Medicaid covers 45 percent of the nearly 40 million births in the U.S. each year. By stopping the Affordable Care Act’s […]

]]> By: Exit interview: NOW’s O’Neill on GOP health policy and maternal deaths | USA Elections Results /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9180 Mon, 19 Jun 2017 13:42:11 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9180 […] O’Neill sees a link between clinic closures and death rates. Half of all births in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid, and Planned Parenthood is often the sole provider of health […]

]]> By: Exit interview: NOW’s O’Neill on GOP health policy and maternal deaths | Health Senses by AllureSenses.com /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9178 Sun, 18 Jun 2017 18:41:58 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9178 […] O’Neill sees a link between clinic closures and death rates. Half of all births in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid, and Planned Parenthood is often the sole provider of health […]

]]> By: Exit interview: NOW’s O’Neill on GOP health policy and maternal deaths | Your Health Tips and Health Food /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9177 Sun, 18 Jun 2017 18:04:05 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9177 […] O’Neill sees a couple between clinic closures and genocide rates. Half of all births in a U.S. are lonesome by Medicaid, and Planned Parenthood is mostly a solitary provider of health […]

]]> By: 6 Threats to Women’s Health Baked Into Trump’s New Budget - Womens Health Blog /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9053 Wed, 24 May 2017 06:53:40 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9053 […] children. One in five women of reproductive age is insured by way of Medicaid, and it covers almost half of all births within the U.S. […]

]]> By: The American Health Care Act Threatens the Health of Our Nation’s Children – Capitol Beat /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9048 Mon, 22 May 2017 14:46:18 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9048 […] attention. Children represent the largest group of enrollees covered by Medicaid, and the program covers nearly half of all births in the United States. Medicaid provides crucial health care services to […]

]]> By: Health Care: Should We All Be Freaking Out? | moomblr /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9020 Tue, 16 May 2017 16:54:15 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-9020 […] over the last few decades to reach the middle class. The statistics are incredible. For instance, almost half of all births in the United States are covered by Medicaid. It’s the largest single provider of coverage for people with HIV. 24% of […]

]]> By: Trump Healthcare and Taxes | Colorado FSO /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-8988 Mon, 08 May 2017 18:55:35 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-8988 […] pre-existing condition provisions.  Nearly half of all births in the US are paid for by Medicaid, according to Kaiser.  Maybe the Democrats thought the pre-existing condition issue would be more attractive to the […]

]]> By: Trump Healthcare and Taxes | A News Hog /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-8987 Mon, 08 May 2017 18:53:43 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-8987 […] pre-existing condition provisions.  Nearly half of all births in the US are paid for by Medicaid, according to Kaiser.  Maybe the Democrats thought the pre-existing condition issue would be more attractive to the […]

]]> By: What Trump’s Family-Planning Pick Teresa Manning Gets Wrong About Birth Control | Buzz AffCart /news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-8962 Thu, 04 May 2017 09:56:37 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/nearly-half-of-u-s-births-are-covered-by-medicaid-study-finds/#comment-8962 […] half of all births in the United States are paid for by Medicaid, Albert adds, pointing out the overwhelming evidence […]

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