The ACA, Prenatal Care, and Preterm Birth

Use of prenatal care rose and incidence of preterm birth fell with Affordable Care Act implementation.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) allowed individuals to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26. To evaluate the effects of this policy on young women's receipt of prenatal care and birth outcomes, researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study using U.S. birth certificate data. They assessed birth outcomes before (i.e., 2009) and after (2011–2013) enactment of the ACA's dependent coverage provision among 1.4 million U.S. women aged 24 to 25 (who were potentially affected by this policy change) compared with women aged 27 to 28 (who were not affected by this policy change).

The ACA appears to have increased the proportion of privately insured births among unmarried women younger than 26, increased receipt of adequate prenatal ca…

Reviewing Author

Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPlanned Parenthood Federation of America

Grant/Research SupportSociety of Family Planning; California Department of Public Health Tobacco Control Program

Editorial BoardsContraception; Journal of General Internal Medicine

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCouncil Member, Society of General Internal Medicine