Xiong, Pahee2018-07-122018-07-122018https://hdl.handle.net/11299/198161In the past, policy changes have been made to ensure insurance covers pregnant women. Public programs such as Medicaid were expanded to cover pregnant women. However, there has not been much focus on expanding health insurance coverage for non-pregnant, reproductive age women. Even though these women can obtain coverage during pregnancy, this is too late of an intervention to ensure women have healthy pregnancies (Atrash et al., 2006, pg.4). Women who are not pregnant nor have children are more likely to be uninsured (Johnson and Gee, 2012, pg. 225). Childbearing age women suffer from a variety of chronic conditions that could potentially contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes (Atrash et al., 2006, pg.4). Preventative measures need to happen before pregnancy to detect, modify, and control risk factors that contribute to maternal and infant outcomes (Atrash et al., 2006, pg.4). Young adults between the ages of 19 to 24 are more likely to be uninsured and are among the most likely to be pregnant (Johnson and Gee, 2012, pg.225). Recent policy changes were implemented to expand access health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Due to this policy change, I am interested to see if the ACA expanded coverage for non-pregnant women. Studying the ACA expansion would be helpful to understand which provisions had a positive impact on women’s health care coverage. My paper will focus on how the ACA has affected trends in health insurance coverage among pregnant and reproductive-age women. I will also consider social factors such as age, race, education, and geographical location to examine their influence on recent trends in health insurance coverage. By using these socio-demographic factors in my analysis, I can better understand how each factor affects the status of insurance coverage.enAffordable Care ActPreconception and Preventative CareThesis or Dissertation