TY  - JOUR
AU  - Dave,Dhaval M.
AU  - Decker,Sandra
AU  - Kaestner,Robert
AU  - Simon,Kosali I.
TI  - Re-examining the Effects of Medicaid Expansions for Pregnant Women
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14591
PY  - 2008
Y2  - December 2008
DO  - 10.3386/w14591
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14591
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14591.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Dhaval M. Dave
Bentley University
Department of Economics
175 Forest Street, AAC 195
Waltham, MA 02452-4705
E-Mail: ddave@bentley.edu

Sandra Decker
5600 Fishers Lane
MAILSTOP 07W41A
Rockville, MD 20009
USA
Tel: (301) 427-1669
E-Mail: Sandra.decker@ahrq.hhs.gov

Robert Kaestner
School of Public Policy & Department of Economics
University of California, Riverside
4165 Interdisciplinary South
900 University Avenue
Riverside, CA 92521
E-Mail: kaestner.robert@gmail.com

Kosali I. Simon
School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Indiana University
Rm 443
1315 East Tenth Street
Bloomington, IN 47405-1701
Tel: (812) 856-3850
E-Mail: simonkos@indiana.edu
AB  - This paper analyzes the effect of Medicaid eligibility expansions on the health insurance coverage of women giving birth and on the use of prenatal care and infant health, controlling for year and state effects and state-specific trends that may be correlated with expansions in Medicaid eligibility.  We combine estimates from the two sets of analyses to construct estimates of the effect of health insurance on use of prenatal care and infant health.  We find that the eligibility expansions reduced the proportion of pregnant women who were uninsured by approximately 10 percent, although this decrease in uninsured came with the expense of a substantial reduction in private insurance coverage.  Changes in Medicaid eligibility were associated with very small and statistically insignificant changes in prenatal care use, birth weight, and incidence of low-birth weight.
ER  -