Jean Guglielminotti, MD, PhD Awarded by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
R01 addresses racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health
The Department of Anesthesiology congratulates Dr. Jean Guglielminotti on his first R01, a highly competitive award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The project, “Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Maternal Health through Policy Interventions” will be funded by the NIH for five years.
Dr. Guglielminotti's project aims to improve the health of minoritized racial and ethnic birthing people by reducing racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity and mortality. Minoritized birthing people are three times more likely than non-Hispanic White people to experience severe maternal morbidity during childbirth and the postpartum period. Addressing these disparities is a recognized urgent health priority.
Severe maternal mortality (SMM) refers to unintended outcomes of labor and delivery that lead to long- or short-term adverse health consequences or a substantially increased risk of maternal death. Providing continuous health insurance coverage from preconception to one year postpartum is a suggested intervention to mitigate these disparities. However, up to 80% of minoritized birthing people do not have continuous insurance coverage, and evidence linking health insurance policy changes to reduced racial and ethnic disparities in SMM is scant.
Dr. Guglielminotti’s project will assess the effectiveness of three significant health insurance expansion policies in reducing racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity.
- 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.
- 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
- The Maintenance of Effort of the 2020 Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), temporarily maintaining Medicaid coverage beyond 60 days postpartum while the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency was in place.
The results of this project will help close important gaps in health disparities research and provide rigorous evidence to inform policy interventions to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities among birthing people.
