A new study found that maternity costs for Asian, Black, and Hispanic parents are significantly higher than those for white people.
Dr. Rebecca Gourevitch, the lead author of the study, said that the average additional spending on medical care from pregnancy through postpartum paid by racial and ethnic groups was much higher than that paid by white people.
Out-Of-Pocket Costs for Maternity
Gourevitch, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health (UMD SPH), said that out-of-pocket costs for Black people were highest overall through pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum.
The study also showed that people from different racial and ethnic groups have different experiences with maternity care. Gourevitch said that the burden of greater out-of-pocket costs could have significant impacts on maternal health.
The differences between the subjects were most pronounced during pregnancy as for recommended prenatal care services, Black people on average paid 74% more. In comparison, Hispanics and Asians paid 51% and 4% more, respectively, when compared to white people, according to News Medical.
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On the other hand, the study found that the disparities of out-of-pocket costs at delivery and postpartum were much smaller. Researchers at UMD SPH and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health led the study.
It measured out-of-pocket spending in more than 87,000 pregnancies, deliveries, and the first 42 days postpartum nationwide. The researchers anonymized data taken from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) over five years (2018-2022).
The researchers also measured out-of-pocket spending in dollars and as a percentage of the median household income in the member's area. They found that 26.9% of pregnancies occurred in areas with a median household income of $75,000 or less.
Higher Costs Among Racial and Ethnic Groups
The study also said that Black and Hispanic people are more likely to be enrolled in insurance plans that have high levels of coinsurance, which is the percentage of the cost of a medical service that the patient must pay.
Anna Sinaiko, a senior author of the study, said that coinsurance often only applies to hospital care. She noted that high-cost services such as deliveries can make paying 10% or more of the cost challenging.
The situation comes despite the Affordable Care Act being designed to offer financial relief for parents who require essential maternal care services. The average out-of-pocket spending was found to be $3,070 for birthing individuals with commercial insurance from 2018 to 2020, as per Drug Topics.
