The study, from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, found that rates of severe maternal morbidity rose around 9 percent from 2018 to 2020 among both women with Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance and those with Medicaid.
Blue Cross Blue Shield data available from 2021 shows rates of maternal morbidity continued to rise through the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report.
Rates of maternal morbidity were higher among women of color, the report found. Among Black women with BCBS insurance, rates of maternal morbidity were 53 percent higher than their white counterparts. Among Latina women, rates were 22 percent higher, and they were 15 percent higher among Asian women.
“When it comes to racial disparities in childbirth complications, the pandemic has only sent us further in the wrong direction — and we were in a bad place to begin with,” Kim Keck, president and CEO of BCBSA, said in a Sept. 21 news release. “We have a bold goal of reducing racial disparities in maternal health by 50 percent in five years, and BCBS companies are taking action through advocacy, partnerships and local programs to support mothers at every stage of their pregnancy.”
The report includes 10 steps the association of insurers can take to reduce the rates of maternal morbidity. These include crafting a holistic maternal health network, adding more nurse-midwives and birthing centers to provider networks, and implementing value-based maternal health contracts.
The report also calls on private and public sector leaders to advocate for federal policy changes, including passing the Congressional Black Maternal Health Caucus’ Momnibus package and extending Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum.
“One organization alone cannot undertake all of these actions, all at once, to reduce the impact of health inequities women of color face today,” BCBSA said in the report. “However, we must act now to make incremental progress together, with critical roles for health insurers, providers, communities, policymakers, patients and allies.”
Read the full report here.
