# The Effects of the Medicaid Continuous Coverage Requirement during the Public Health Emergency on Postpartum Coverage and Maternal and Infant Care after Childbirth

> **NIH NIH K99** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $107,972

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Career Goal: My long-time career goal is to become an independent investigator studying the effects of health
care policies on access and use of maternal and infant health care services among low-income populations.
With additional skills in claims data, subject matter expertise, and causal inference methods, I plan to build a
career focused on generating evidence to improve maternal and child health outcomes and reduce disparities
in the United States. Career Development: I will pursue the following training aims during the mentored (K99)
phase of the award: (1) clinical maternal and infant health content expertise; (2) claims data analysis skills; (3)
advanced causal methods, and; (4) professional development. Research Project: Extending postpartum
Medicaid has the potential to address poor maternal health in the United States, with additional implications for
infant care use and health.1 Approximately 63% of maternal deaths in the U.S. occur postpartum, and more
than half are considered to be preventable.2 However, despite high postpartum healthcare needs, pregnancy-
related Medicaid ends after 60 days postpartum. Medicaid pays for almost half of all births in the US and
disproportionately covers births to the low-income population and people of color.3–5 There has recently been
increased interest in postpartum Medicaid, including an American Rescue Plan (ARP) option to extend
Medicaid one-year postpartum.6 Prior to this, the March 2020 Families First Coronavirus Response Act
(FFCRA) prevented Medicaid disenrollment during the pandemic, thereby extending postpartum Medicaid
eligibility, which can inform current postpartum Medicaid policies under consideration. Using the Rhode Island
All-Payer claims data, this proposal's Specific Aims are: K99/1) To evaluate the effects of the FFCRA on
coverage and maternal and infant care in the postpartum period, R00/2) To evaluate the heterogeneous effects
of the FFCRA on outcomes by race and ethnicity, R00/3) To evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic affected
the effects of extended postpartum Medicaid eligibility on care use. Mentorship: I have assembled a highly
accomplished team of experts at Brown University to provide mentorship and guidance as I transition to
research independence, comprised of Dr. Trivedi, Professor in the Department of Health Services, Policy and
Practice and Department of Medicine; Dr. Steenland, Research Assistant Professor of Population Studies in
the Population Studies and Training Center; Dr. Vivier, Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice and
Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine; Dr. Wilson, Professor and Chair of the Department of Health
Services, Policy and Practice, and Professor of Medicine; Dr. Savitz, Professor of Epidemiology and Professor
of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics; and Dr. Tuuli, Chace-Joukowsky Professor and Chair of
Obstetrics & Gynecology. Future Directions: The training and research in this proposal will p...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10868558
- **Project number:** 5K99HD111622-02
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Erica L Eliason
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $107,972
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2024-09-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10868558

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10868558, The Effects of the Medicaid Continuous Coverage Requirement during the Public Health Emergency on Postpartum Coverage and Maternal and Infant Care after Childbirth (5K99HD111622-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10868558. Licensed CC0.

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