IMPACT OF AFFORDABLE CARE ACT COVERAGE EXPANSION ON WOMEN'S PREVENTIVE SERVICES

Author(s)

Arora P1, Desai K2
1University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA, 2Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

OBJECTIVES: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expansion mandated the private health plans to cover women’s preventive services starting August 2012. With limited and contradictory evidence, this study intends to assess the impact of ACA on the utilization rates and the cost burden of women’s reproductive preventive service. METHODS:  A pre-post analysis was conducted using nationally representative sample of females (aged 15-44 years, n=4,397) participating in 2011-2013 National Survey of Family Growth. The utilization rates and cost burdens were compared for six services using bivariate and multivariate logistics regression models. RESULTS: After the ACA expansion, there wasn’t a significant increase in the utilization rates of birth control/prescription (33.7% vs. 30.7%), birth control counselling (17.7% vs. 16.9%), sterilization counselling (3.3% vs. 3.5%), STI counsel/test/treat (15% vs. 14.6%) and HIV screening (24.1% vs. 23.1%). Respondents paying through insurance increased after ACA, but out-of-pocket spending (cost-sharing) didn’t decrease for respondents. Type of insurance was an important predictor of utilization rates with publicly insured having significantly higher Odds Ratio (OR) or likelihood of receiving birth control counselling (OR:1.71), sterilization counselling (OR:2.67), STI counsel/test/treat (OR:1.54) and HIV screening (OR:1.69) compared to privately insured. CONCLUSIONS:  The early-on impact of ACA expansion on utilization rates of women’s reproductive preventive services didn't appear to be significant. Private health plans, however, might have expanded their coverage but burden of cost sharing still existed. Future research should evaluate the long term impact of ACA expansion on women’s health and the economic gains.

Conference/Value in Health Info

2017-05, ISPOR 2017, Boston, MA, USA

Value in Health, Vol. 20, No. 5 (May 2017)

Code

PHS156

Topic

Economic Evaluation, Health Service Delivery & Process of Care

Topic Subcategory

Cost/Cost of Illness/Resource Use Studies, Health Care Research

Disease

Multiple Diseases, Reproductive and Sexual Health

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