Arkansas continues to rank last among states when it comes to women’s health and reproductive health care, according to a new report released Thursday.
of 2024 Women’s Health and Reproductive Health State Scorecard This is the first comprehensive study of women’s health care in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by the Commonwealth Fund, a private, nonprofit foundation that supports independent research on health policy and high-performance health systems.
Arkansas ranked 47th overall and last in the state with 52.1 obstetric care providers per 100,000 women ages 15 to 44. The national average is 78.9 per 100,000 women.
The state’s infant mortality rate is 8.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, the second-lowest in the state, compared with the national average of 5.4.
The report uses 32 measures to rate states on access to health care, affordability, quality of care and health outcomes for women in the U.S. Arkansas ranked 50th in health and reproductive health outcomes, 48th in quality and prevention of care and 35th in coverage, access and affordability.
The study includes data from 2022, the year the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which will provide “an important baseline for tracking the ripple effects of the ruling and the impact of new policy restrictions on reproductive health care,” Commonwealth Fund President Joseph Betancourt told reporters on a conference call Wednesday.
“The health of women in the United States is extremely vulnerable,” Betancourt said. “There are significant disparities in women’s access to quality health care across states and across racial, ethnic and socioeconomic lines. While these inequities have undoubtedly long existed, recent policy choices and judicial decisions that limit access to reproductive health care have exacerbated and may continue to exacerbate them.”
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The highest maternal mortality rates are found in the Mississippi Delta, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. These four states had abortion restrictions before Dobbs and now ban abortion. The exact correlation between abortion bans and maternal mortality rates is unclear. Still under study.
Some counties in these states do not have a single hospital or birth center with an obstetrician to provide obstetric care. States that restrict abortion tend to have fewer obstetric care providers, according to the report.
As of 2022, abortion will be illegal in Arkansas except to save the life of the pregnant woman. Secretary of State John Thurston Disqualification A constitutional amendment was introduced last week to expand abortion rights, but groups supporting the ballot measure The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday. They are asking the state Supreme Court to overturn Thurston’s dismissal.
Mississippi Delta states also ranked low for other potential drivers of maternal mortality, including high rates of low-risk C-section births, high rates of uninsured women before pregnancy, and low rates of postpartum depression screening.
Republican Congressman Aaron Pilkington of Knoxville, Arkansas said: Law He introduced a bill during the 2023 legislative session that would require doctors to offer postpartum depression screening to newborn mothers and require Medicaid to cover the screening. Law Require Medicaid depression screening for pregnant women.
The Arkansas Legislature passed a wide range of maternal and reproductive health bills in 2023.
Additionally, Pilkington led an unsuccessful effort to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage, and Arkansas is one of only three states that has not taken advantage of the federal option to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months after birth.
In response to criticism Expanded coverage is unnecessary Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders in March to create a statewide insurance program that covers pregnancy care A committee was established It has been tasked with formulating a plan to strengthen maternal and child health in the state.
The expansion of Medicaid coverage after delivery has significantly improved coverage for pregnant women, said Sarah Collins, lead author of the Commonwealth Fund report. She said states that haven’t expanded Medicaid coverage tend to have higher uninsured rates for women before they become pregnant.
“This means that women, particularly those who are poor or low-income, have limited access to health care and go into pregnancy in much poorer health than they would have if they had health insurance,” Collins said. “It’s clear that navigating the health care system really requires having the right health insurance that covers the costs.”
Collins noted that “insurance coverage is necessary but not sufficient” if other things aren’t in place, such as access to providers, a good network and the ability to receive care in a timely manner.
“States that restrict or ban abortion have fewer providers overall where people can get the care they need,” she said. “So it’s about insurance coverage, but it’s also about the type of insurance and access to providers that cover it.”
Despite Arkansas’s hardships, the study found that the state The best performing groups were the percentage of women ages 18-44 who did not have a regular source of health care (15%), the percentage of recent mothers who did not have health insurance during their pregnancy (1.4%), and the percentage of women ages 18-44 who reported not seeing a doctor for a routine checkup in the past two years (13%).
Based on their findings, the report’s authors suggested policy considerations that have worked well in high-performing states, such as investing in near-universal health insurance and making reproductive health care legal and accessible.
Top-performing states also achieved lower maternal mortality rates through increased maternal health workers, increased antenatal and postnatal check-ups, and higher rates of postnatal screening.
“We hope that policymakers will use these findings to identify and address health care disparities and ensure that all women across the United States, regardless of where they live or their background, have access to quality, affordable health care and can live healthy lives,” Betancourt said.
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