Maternal and Infant Health Policies
A myriad of federal and state policies could potentially affect maternal behavior and maternal and infant health. This session closely examines three different policies that have implications birth outcomes, breastfeeding, and maternal employment. First, Kuziemka, Meckel, and Rossin-Slater (2013) examine whether capitation payments create incentives for insurers to compete for patients by providing higher quality service and encouraging higher risk patients to select another insurer by providing lower quality service, relative to fee-for-service payments. The authors find evidence that insurers participate in these risk-selection activities and discuss implications for ACA exchanges. In the second paper, Reeder et al. (2013) examine the effectiveness of telephone peer counseling to support breastfeeding as part of a Surgeon General’s recommendation to support breastfeeding through peer counseling in the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The authors use data from a randomized trial including 1,948 WIC clients. Results indicate gains in non-exclusive breastfeeding and more limited gains in exclusive breastfeeding. To conclude, Bullinger and Gurley-Calvez (2013) consider the effects of breastfeeding in the workplace policies on maternal employment decisions. Although previous research has addressed the effects of breastfeeding in the workplace policies on breastfeeding initiation and duration, the relationship between these policies and women’s employment is less clear. The authors exploit pre-ACA variation across states for identification.