Wednesday, December 17, 2025 12/17/2025

Improving Maternal Health through Policy Interventions

Award Number: R01MD018410
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/03/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2027

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Improving Maternal Health through Policy Interventions - The long-term goal of the proposed research project is to improve maternal health by reducing severe maternal morbidity and maternal mortality. Specifically, the proposed research project will assess the effectiveness of 3 significant health insurance expansion policies in reducing severe maternal morbidity (SMM) rate: 1) the 2010 Dependent Coverage Provision under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), requiring private health insurers to allow young adults to remain on their parent’s plan until their 26th birthday; 2) the 2014 ACA Medicaid expansion, giving states the option to expand Medicaid coverage to non-elderly adults with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level; and 3) the Maintenance of Effort of the 2020 Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) temporarily maintaining Medicaid coverage beyond 60-day postpartum as long as the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency was in place. SMM refers to unintended serious complications of labor and delivery and is associated with substantially increased risk of maternal death. The rate of SMM during childbirth has nearly doubled during the last two decades, increasing from 0.8% in 1999 to 1.8% in 2021. Addressing SMM is recognized as an urgent public health priority. Providing continuous health insurance coverage through health policies, from preconception to 1-year postpartum, is a suggested intervention to mitigate SMM. Up to 80% of pregnant individuals do not have such continuous coverage. However, evidence linking health insurance policy changes to reduced SMM rate is scant. The 2010 ACA Dependent Coverage Provision, the 2014 ACA Medicaid expansion, and the 2020 FFCRA Maintenance of Effort present three natural experiments for assessing the effectiveness of expanding health insurance coverage in reducing SMM. The proposed project will test a series of hypotheses related to the specific aims, including: 1) Expanded access to private health insurance for individuals under age 26 is associated with reduced SMM rate during childbirth; 2) Expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income individuals is associated with reduced SMM rate during childbirth, and 3) Extending Medicaid coverage for low-income individuals from 60-day to 1-year postpartum is associated with decreased SMM rate during the postpartum period. National and state data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, will be analyzed using robust quasi-experimental approaches such as the difference-in-difference-in-differences. Results of this project will help close important gaps in maternal health research and provide rigorous evidence to inform policy interventions to reduce the SMM rate. It aligns with the aims of the IMPROVE initiative of the National Institutes of Health.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $291,025 )
2026	2026	THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK	630 W 168TH ST FL 4	NEW YORK	NY	10032	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	4	12/5/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$291,025
														Subtotal = $291,025

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $323,361 )
2025	2025	THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK	630 W 168TH ST FL 4	NEW YORK	NY	10032	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	3	11/28/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$291,025
2025	2025	THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK	630 W 168TH ST FL 4	NEW YORK	NY	10032	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	001	3	7/24/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$32,336
														Subtotal = $323,361

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $369,826 )
2024	2024	THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK	630 W 168TH ST FL 4	NEW YORK	NY	10032	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	001	2	5/28/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$36,983
2024	2024	TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, THE	630 W 168TH ST FL 4	NEW YORK	NY	10032	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	2	11/5/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$332,843
														Subtotal = $369,826

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $556,298 )
2023	2023	TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, THE	630 W 168TH ST FL 4	NEW YORK	NY	10032	NEW YORK	USA	Minority Health and Health Disparities Research	000	1	5/3/2023	NEW	$556,298
														Subtotal = $556,298

Grand Total All Awards = $1,540,510

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Improving Maternal Health through Policy Interventions

Award Number: R01MD018410

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CENTER ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/03/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2027

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