New study finds infant mortality rate nearly doubled for mothers with Medicaid compared to private insurance
PATERSON, N.J. -- The type of health insurance a mother has could mean a higher chance of infant mortality.
A new study looks at different outcomes in childbirth based on private insurance versus Medicaid.
"So we have to figure this out -- why does this happen?" said Dr. David Principe, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at St. Joseph's Health in Paterson.
Paterson is a community with a high rate of high-risk pregnancies for many reasons.
"One has to do with socioeconomical status of the people. One has to do with access to prenatal care ... One has to do with diet. Diet, processed food, soda, smoking, drugs," Principe said.
A new study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, found that babies born to mothers with private insurance had a lower infant mortality rate than babies born to moms with Medicaid. In fact, the infant mortality rate was nearly doubled for the group with Medicaid.
Doctors say that is no surprise.
"It's just the same trend that we're seeing for our moms, we're seeing with our babies as well," said Dr. Monique de Four Jones, associate chief of labor and delivery at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. "Some of those patients have no insurance. So they don't come to the doctor, or they don't come for care. And it is not until they come in for delivery that they are provided emergency Medicaid. And that is how, now, Mom has gotten coverage and then baby gets coverage automatically."
That's why it's critical to get expecting moms access to care earlier.
"The biggest thing is, we have to get women in for prenatal care as early as possible. And that has to be done by our elected officials who have to make Medicaid as easy for pregnant women to get as if going into a store and, you know, buying a pack of gum," Principe said.
Many moms without insurance are eligible for Medicaid coverage throughout the entire pregnancy and for a year after birth in New York and New Jersey.