The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) has posted a new Statistical Brief #296 on the following: Expected Payers and Patient Characteristics of Maternal Emergency Department Care, 2019.
This Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Statistical Brief presents statistics on treat-and-release ED visits (i.e., visits that result in discharge from the ED and do not result in admission to the same hospital) for pregnant women aged 12-55 years using weighted estimates from the 2019 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS). The distribution of ED visits and aggregate ED costs by primary expected payer is presented overall as well as by patient age group and race and ethnicity.
Brief highlights:
- Medicaid was the primary expected payer for more than half of treat-and-release emergency department (ED) visits and costs for pregnant women versus just over one-third of ED visits and costs for nonpregnant women aged 12-55 years.
- For pregnant women, the proportion of ED visits that were expected to be covered by Medicaid decreased with age, in contrast to the constant proportion of ED visits expected to be self-pay/no charge regardless of age.
- For pregnant women, the proportion of ED visits expected to be covered by Medicaid was highest for Hispanic women and Black non-Hispanic women.
- The proportion of ED visits that were expected to be self-pay/no charge was twice as high for Hispanic pregnant women as for White non-Hispanic pregnant women.
- Black non-Hispanic pregnant girls aged 12-17 years had the highest proportion of ED visits with an expected payer of Medicaid (79 percent vs. 69-71 percent for other pregnant girls in this age group).
- The percentage of ED visits for pregnant women expected to be self-pay/no charge was highest for Hispanic women aged 35-55 years (17 percent). (AHRQ).
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