A new report shows that states expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, including Arkansas, have fewer maternal deaths and lower infant mortality rates. The report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families shows that providing health-care coverage for women before, during and after pregnancy improves the health of both mothers and babies. Georgetown Center director Joan Alker says the improvements in health outcomes in Arkansas and across the country were substantial.
According to the report, uninsured rates for women of child-bearing age in Arkansas dropped almost 15 percentage points between 2013 and 2017, almost twice the national average. The report points out, however, that women of color still face adversity. It found that black women are nearly three times as likely to die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth than are white women.