Postpartum Insurance Discontinuity and Use of Prescription Contraceptive Methods [ID: 1377734

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Medicaid eligibility income thresholds increase during pregnancy and historically ended 60 days postpartum. Thus, this postpartum period is especially vulnerable to insurance discontinuity, which may decrease access to contraception. METHODS: We used Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System survey data (2012–2020) in 42 states. Exposure, assessed 2 or more months after childbirth, was categorized as continuous insurance, insurance loss, discontinuous Medicaid-to-private, and discontinuous private-to-Medicaid. We used modified Poisson regression to estimate risk ratios (RRs) with 95% CIs for using contraception methods requiring prescriptions compared to nonprescription methods/none, adjusted for race and ethnicity, language, education, age, marital status, federal poverty level, and year. We then stratified by Medicaid expansion status at time of delivery. RESULTS: Of 246,088 respondents, 76.4% held continuous insurance from childbirth to 2 or more months postpartum, 11.9% lost insurance, 7.6% experienced discontinuity from Medicaid-to-private insurance, and 4.1% from private-to-Medicaid. Compared to continuous insurance, the adjusted RR for prescription postpartum contraception was 0.88 (CI 0.86–0.89) for loss of insurance, 0.99 (0.97–1.01) for discontinuous Medicaid-to-private, and 0.96 (0.93–0.98) for discontinuous private-to-Medicaid. Stratification by Medicaid expansion status yielded similar results. Of respondents in states or time periods without Medicaid expansion, 16.2% experienced insurance loss compared to 7.9% of those with Medicaid expansion. CONCLUSION: Insurance loss 2 or more months after childbirth was associated with decreased likelihood of prescription postpartum contraception, with a higher proportion of respondents without Medicaid expansion vulnerable to such insurance loss. Increased state adoption of the federal 12-month postpartum Medicaid extension option could improve access to prescription postpartum contraception.