The Commonwealth Fund 2024 Women’s Health and Reproductive Care Scorecard: Milbank State Leadership Network Post-Briefing Fact Sheet

Network:
Milbank State Leadership Network
Topic:
Health Equity Maternity Care Medicaid

EVENT DATE: August 26, 2024 

Introduction

The Commonwealth Fund’s first State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care  uses 32 measure to explore how health care access, quality, and health outcomes differ across the United States. The report finds stark disparities by state and highlighted the links between access to reproductive services and the availability of maternity care providers and insurance coverage. Overall, deaths from preventable causes are rising, underscoring that many states are facing challenges in providing comprehensive health care for women. In this briefing, Scorecard authors provided key findings and state policymakers from Arkansas, Mississippi and New Jersey offered discussed state strategies to increase reproductive health care access and improve maternal health outcomes. 

Panelists

  • Daniel Edney, MD, FACP, FASAM, State Health Officer, Mississippi State Department of Health 
  • Shin-Yi Lin, PhD, Deputy Director of Policy, New Jersey Department of Human Services  
  • Elizabeth Pitman, JD, MPH, Director of Division of Medical Services, Arkansas Department of Human Services 
  • Sara Collins, PhD, Senior Scholar & VP, Health Care Coverage and Access, Tracking Health System Performance, The Commonwealth Fund 
  • David Radley, PhD, MPH, Senior Scientist for Health System Tracking, The Commonwealth Fund 

Key Findings 

The Commonwealth Fund researchers reported significant regional differences in death rates among women of reproductive age, with the highest all-cause mortality rates in the southeastern states; the top causes of death included pregnancy complications, substance use, Covid-19, and breast and cervical cancer. The highest maternal mortality rates occurred in the Mississippi Delta region, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.  

To assess quality, the researchers measured births by cesarean section for low-risk pregnancies, preventive care use, prenatal and postpartum care, and mental health screening. Low-risk cesarian births, which are an indicator of lower quality in maternal health care, were most common on the East Coast and in southern states. Across states, higher rates of postpartum depression were correlated with lower rates of screening. All states had room for improvement on rates of breast and cervical cancer screenings. 

States that performed well across indicators for health care access and outcomes had several commonalities. These states invested in health insurance coverage for nearly all residents, had legal and accessible reproductive health care, and achieved lower maternal mortality rates with more maternal health workers and higher rates of prenatal and postpartum check-ups and postpartum depression screening. 

State Perspectives 

After the Commonwealth Fund presentation, state officials from Arkansas, Mississippi, and New Jersey shared how their states are working to improve maternal health outcomes. The table below provides an overview of relevant policies in these three states. 

State Policy Landscape

Medicaid expansion12-months post-partum extensionPresumptive eligibility
ArkansasYes *NoNo. Ended after Medicaid expansion.
MississippiNoYesYes
New JerseyYesYesYes

Arkansas  

Elizabeth Pitman reported that Arkansas Medicaid covers 50% of births in her state. Despite scoring well on access to coverage, Arkansas scored poorly on quality metrics impacting maternal health outcomes. In response to high maternal and infant mortality rates, Pittman said, Governor Sanders established the Arkansas Strategic Committee for Maternal Health in March 2024.The committee identified key priorities for the state, including coordinating care across siloed health and social service providers and improving the data infrastructure to establish presumptive eligibility for pregnancy and increase care coordination and access to services. The Arkansas Department of Health, Department of Human Services, and Surgeon General, as well as University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, community-based organizations, and large employers, have since created a statewide plan to coordinate resources to improve the quality of maternal health care.  

Mississippi  

Dr. Daniel Edney highlighted the role of poverty in perpetuating poor health outcomes in Mississippi, including poor maternal and child health outcomes. Although 65% of births are covered by Medicaid, Mississippi has large health care and obstetrical care deserts and significant workforce shortages. In the Mississippi Delta, an area the size of Delaware, there are only seven obstetricians and no neonatal intensive care units. To address this challenge, the Department of Health is using its public health authority to explore perinatal regionalization and a system of care that ensures pregnant people can safely deliver at hospitals with the correct maternal level of care designation. Dr. Edney also discussed efforts to address rising rates of congenital syphilis.  

New Jersey  

The New Jersey’s Department of Human Services is working to improve maternal and infant health, with an emphasis on reducing racial and ethnic health disparities, through the Nurture New Jersey Initiative. Dr. Shin-Yi Lin explained that this initiative focuses on whole person health, which includes caring for the health of a mother before and after pregnancy and using new state funds to support prenatal and contraceptive care.  

In addition, in 2021, the state required perinatal providers to conduct a standardized risk assessment at the beginning of every Medicaid pregnancy to identify clinical and behavioral health risks, substance use disorder screening, and health-related social needs (e.g., food, housing, job insecurity) to inform care and connections with community-based organizations. Dr. Lin also pointed out that New Jersey Medicaid is interested in disaggregating its health data to understand how different subsets of the population access care based on their age, race and ethnicity, and geography. 

Discussion  

Participants discussed the role of insurance coverage to improve maternal health outcomes. In Arkansas, the Department of Human Services is focused on helping families transition from Medicaid to private insurance when they lose eligibility by coordinating with other agencies and providing education and outreach. And a newly enacted law in Mississippi allows local health departments, as well as hospitals and other providers, to serve as access points for presumptive eligibility determinations to increase access to Medicaid for pregnant people. Another theme was provider engagement and capacity: New Jersey is supporting innovative clinical models like group pregnancy care, group pediatric care, and birth centers to improve access. And its Medicaid program is supporting midwifery care by moving toward equal reimbursement for midwives.