Date Available
12-18-2025
Year of Publication
2025
Document Type
Graduate Capstone Project
Degree Name
Master of Public Administration
College
Graduate School
Department/School/Program
Public Administration
Faculty
Dr. Jeongyoon Lee
Committee Member
Dr. Joseph Benitez
Faculty
Dr. Catherine Annis
Abstract
This study examines the impact of California’s 12-month Medicaid postpartum expansion on insurance coverage outcomes among recent mothers using pooled data from the American Community Survey (ACS) microdata from 2018-2019 and 2022-2023. A quasi-experimental difference-in-differences design compared postpartum mothers with non-postpartum mothers to assess whether the policy altered Medicaid enrollment, private coverage, or uninsurance in the first two years after implementation. Findings show that Medicaid coverage increased slightly and uninsurance declined modestly among postpartum mothers, while private coverage remained stable. Across all three outcomes, however, the DID estimates were small and statistically insignificant, which indicates early but limited measurable effects. The subgroup regression on Medicaid and uninsurance by race and educational attainment also showed that postpartum and non-postpartum mothers within each group moved in near-parallel trends, suggesting that the expansion did not disproportionately shift insurance coverage for any one racial or educational category during the early post-policy period. Overall, California’s postpartum expansion moved insurance coverage patterns in the expected direction, with modest increases in Medicaid participation and small reductions in uninsurance, while differences by race and education remained.
Recommended Citation
Nwannunu, Akuoma, "The Impact of Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Expansion on Insurance Coverage in California" (2025). MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects. 471.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/mpampp_etds/471
