The Affordable Care Act and Access to Care for Reproductive-Aged and Pregnant Women in the United States, 2010-2016.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the association between the Affordable Care Act (ACA), health insurance coverage, and access to care among reproductive-aged and pregnant women.

METHODS

We performed an observational study comparing current insurance type, cost-related barriers to medical care, and no usual source of care among reproductive-aged (n = 128 352) and pregnant (n = 2179) female respondents to the National Health Interview Survey in the United States, before (2010-2013) and after (2015-2016) the ACA coverage expansions.

RESULTS

Among reproductive-aged women, the ACA was associated with a 7.4 percentage-point decrease in the probability of uninsurance (95% confidence interval [CI] = -8.6, -6.2), a 3.6 percentage-point increase in Medicaid (95% CI = 2.5, 4.7), and a 3.1 percentage-point increase in nongroup private coverage (95% CI = 2.1, 4.1). The ACA was also associated with a 1.5 percentage-point decline in cost-related barriers to medical care (95% CI = -2.6, -0.5) and a 2.4 percentage-point reduction in lacking a usual source of care (95% CI = -4.5, -0.3). We did not find significant changes in insurance or cost-related barriers to care for pregnant women.

CONCLUSIONS

The ACA was associated with expanded insurance coverage and improvements in access to care for women of reproductive age, particularly for those with lower incomes.