Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/100730 
Year of Publication: 
2000
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2000-4
Publisher: 
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Abstract: 
In an effort to increase the use of prenatal care by pregnant women and the utilization of medical care by children, eligibility for Medicaid was expanded dramatically for pregnant women and children during the 1980s and early 1990s. By lowering the costs of prenatal care, delivery, and child health care for some individuals, Medicaid expansions may prompt some women to give birth who otherwise would not have children or lead some women to have more children than they otherwise would have. This study uses natality data from 1983 to 1996 to examine the relationship between a state's eligibility threshold for Medicaid and birth rates among various groups. The results suggest that expansions have significant and sizable effects on births. A 10 percentage point increase in the eligibility threshold is associated with a 1.4 percent increase in the birth rate among nonblack women and a 1.0 percent increase among black women. Between 1983 and 1996, the expansions appear to have led to an average increase in the birth rate of about 10 percent.
Subjects: 
Demography
Welfare
Public policy
Medicaid
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
101.58 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.