Out now: we found increases in postpartum Medicaid coverage, ED visits, and behavioral health diagnoses during the COVID-19 continuous coverage provisions. Grateful for the support from @rwjf.org @academyhealth.bsky.social to partner with @ericaeliason.bsky.social and @maria-steenland.bsky.social

Excited for this new publication in Milbank Quarterly! Using Medicaid claims, @rgourevitch.bsky.social, @maria-steenland.bsky.social and I find that extended Medicaid during COVID-19 was associated with increases in postpartum coverage, ED visits, and behavioral health diagnoses tinyurl.com/yfmbxtwz

Now hiring: #Postdoc in Rural Maternal & Perinatal Health (#NIH U01) at USC @uscarnoldschool.bsky.social Seeking a scholar committed to #RuralHealth #MaternalHealth equity and high-impact #research dissemination. Apply: uscjobs.sc.edu/postings/201... @academyhealth.bsky.social @apha.org

Wisconsin just became the 49th state to adopt 12 months postpartum overage in Medicaid. Only state in the country that has not adopted this policy for new moms is … Arkansas… Congrats to our colleagues in Wisconsin @kidsforward.bsky.social who had been working on this for many years.

MEPS seems to be gone as of now. This is very bad. These are critical pieces of data about health care and they belong to the American public.

New article @jamanetworkopen.com showing cash during pregnancy ⬆️ prenatal care among women in Flint. Cash support to low-income families supports healthy babies & kids, but our current safety net falls short. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... @monahanna.bsky.social @michiganstateu.bsky.social

More CDC Cuts :: NCHS Edition 📊🔫 At least 1/3 of the staff at the National Center for Health Statistics has been cut (and remain cut). This is catastrophic for our nation’s health data. Say goodbye to national health statistics that you can trust, healthcare surveys, NHANES and data systems.

1/ #Policies shape our #health. But why? We usually think it has to do with how policies change material resources (e.g., access to food, health care, etc) and opportunities. In @nejm.org, we argue that policies can also affect health by shaping social #narratives. www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Sharing some encouraging news re: CDC PRAMS. The CDC has indicated they will weight and clean the 2024 PRAMS data. Also, the PRAMS data collection system (PIDS) is up and running again and some sites have begun 2025 PRAMS data collection. Hopefully restoration of the ARF portal is coming soon too.

Heard from #AHRQ that the entire grants staff has been let go! They are unable to issue funds for grants already funded, let alone fund new grants. This is outrageous and will make Americans poorer and sicker. Why? A brief thread about just some recent AHRQ-funded research: #MedSky #HealthPolicy

Running back this class due to tech issues. 😭 If you're a director of graduate studies or a department chair: let me guess how you're feeling right about now. 1️⃣ You’re trying to support your job market candidates despite the uncertainty and chaos that academia is experiencing in this moment. 1/

Ok folks, we know work requirements reduce benefits without increasing work (cc: @chloeneast.bsky.social) But who loses benefits and what happens if work requirements are reversed? New evidence from linked SNAP-Medicaid data and a natural experiment in CT tell a concerning story... Thread below 👇

Are you a grad student or postdoc stressing out about job talks? Join me on 6/26/25 at 2 PM CST for a free class. You'll learn how to: ✔️ Avoid the “Big 3” job talk killers ✔️ Use storytelling breath life into your research ✔️ Handle Q&A like a boss Register here and please share: lnkd.in/g5f3YwtX

Question for folks who are at Harvard or have colleagues/friends there. I'd like to know if your research is lost/ruined (as opposed to delayed/paused) by the NIH grant terminations. Can you shoot me a DM/chat?

In addition to defunding Planned Parenthood, the bill the House passed this a.m. includes a last-minute change that would make it difficult-to-impossible for private plans on the Obamacare exchanges to cover abortion. Some states, including NY and CA, require such coverage.

INCREDIBLE choose your own adventure project on chronic disease by the masterful @isabellacueto.bsky.social and @jaspar.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/05/20/k...

check it out: Jacqueline Gourevitch (whom I call mom), paintings 1965-2018 at storage gallery NYC, May 9-June21 — more info and images here: www.storageartgallery.com

JUST IN: ProPublica’s “Life of the Mother” series, which exposes the fatal consequences of abortion bans, has won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. This is the second consecutive year we’ve been awarded this distinction and our eighth Pulitzer: www.propublica.org/series/life-...

Average person may not realize what a big deal this is. #Data tracking maternal/child health (PRAMS), drug use & mental health (NSDUH), etc are being shuttered or severely restricted. These are often only national data on these health conditions, meaning we can't study helpful & harmful policies.

Women's Health Initiative defunded after 30 years and 5,000 publications www.whi.org/md/news/whi-...

A STAT EXCLUSIVE NIH moving to ban all future grants to universities with DEI programs or Israel boycotts, document suggests www.statnews.com/2025/04/21/t...

The U.S. maternal mortality rate increased 27% between 2018 and 2022, a new NIH study finds.

"ASPE had roughly 150 employees at the start of the year and now has fewer than 50, four former employees told STAT. AHRQ started the year with over 300 employees, and Tuesday’s cuts took out 111 of them, three laid-off workers told STAT." The details in this story are just awful.

Among the many devastating losses of yesterday's HHS cuts: the entire CDC team that runs the PRAMS survey was placed on admin leave. This is a catastrophic risk to maternal and child public health surveillance. Grateful to @aniloza.bsky.social at @statnews.com for covering

This Reddit thread of people being laid off from HHS paints a picture of how the federal government's work on health will be curtailed. h/t: @samsteindc.bsky.social www.reddit.com/r/DeptHHS/co...

NEW: The NIH has begun terminating grants for active projects studying gender identity, DEI, environmental justice, climate change, among other topics. At least 16 termination letters have already been sent — and hundreds more are coming, people inside NIH tell me. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Rattled researcher 🙋🏻‍♀️! Grateful to @aniloza.bsky.social and @statnews.com for covering the concerning disruptions to PRAMS www.statnews.com/2025/03/03/c...

Black and Hispanic people paid more in out-of-pocket costs for maternal care than Asian and white people with the same commercial insurance, a new study published in JAMA Health Forum found.

UMD study out today shows Black, Hispanic + Asian people with private insurance pay more out-of-pocket for maternity care than white people. “Their average additional spending on medical care from pregnancy through postpartum is significantly more," said UMD's @rgourevitch.bsky.social bit.ly/3Dd5QuA

NEW: Idaho is trying to become the first state in the country to exclude women who have abortions from its expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage. The Biden admin rejected their proposal. The Trump admin announced today that it will reconsider it. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

This is devastating to maternal and child health research and the outcomes it seeks to improve.

For 38 years, PRAMS has collected critical data on maternal-child health with the goal to reduce infant morbidity and mortality. CDC has officially halted the 2024 PRAMS data collection for the participating 46 states and the future is uncertain.

NEW: Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

Our two papers on abortion bans and fertility/infant mortality are now out. In 14 states w/ abortion bans, fertility increased 1.7% and infant mortality increased 6%. Key takeaway is that these impacts were disproportionately felt among those w/ greatest structural disadvantages. Links below.

Black women in the U.S. died at a rate nearly 3.5 times higher white women around the time of childbirth in 2023, as maternal mortality fell below prepandemic levels overall but racial gaps widened. (Note: Trump administration wouldn't let CDC author speak to me.) apnews.com/article/mate...

Updating slides for my class session on the executive branch. Looking at last year's opening slide is particularly painful...

NEW from @kff.org: A look at some of the federal datasets & portals taken down and implications for research, policy, & media coverage about health. @cynthiaccox.bsky.social @lindseydawson.bsky.social @mattrae.bsky.social @emmawage.bsky.social . www.kff.org/policy-watch...

Resurfacing in the light of day: People should archive their favorite CDC datasets today, namely ones around race/ethnic diversity, LGBTQ, flu, covid, reproductive health...

NEW: We wrote about the how the new administration is using research grants to force universities to come to heel and abandon DEI work. “This is particularly focused on the places that have been the center of resistance to Trump,” @sbagen.bsky.social told me. www.statnews.com/2025/01/30/t...

For those wanting to send me confidential information through even more secure channels, my signal user ID is usha.22 (please repost to amplify.) 🙏🏽

If you are 1) a federal civil servant/contractor ordered not to release scheduled data or reports, or 2) an academic who has lost access to government data in the past week ...please get in touch. I'm happy to keep our conversations confidential. crampell[@]washpost[dot]com

We need to hear from scientists and staffers about what is happening at federal agencies. 👇

Download your data!

🚨🚨🚨 Come work with me! 🚨🚨🚨 Laura Attanansio and I are hiring for a 2-year postdoc position at @umassamherst.bsky.social, starting in summer '25. We have a few exciting projects focused on health care prices, care affordability, and perinatal care quality. careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u...

Are People Fleeing States With Abortion Bans? Yes, according to our analysis of change-of-address data from the USPS. For more details, see our NBER WP or abstract below: www.nber.org/papers/w33328 #EconSky Joint work w/: @danieldench1.bsky.social + Kelly Lifchez + @econling.bsky.social