Effects of maternity-stay legislation on 'drive-through deliveries'

We evaluate the change in length-of-stay and charges for vaginal and cesarean deliveries before and after the implementation of a law establishing a minimum maternity stay in Maryland. Using discharge abstract data collected by the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, we find that after...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health Affairs 1998-09, Vol.17 (5), p.208-215
Main Authors: Udom, N U, Betley, C L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Averages
Births
Cesarean section
Child
Childbirth & labor
Cost analysis
Costs
Delivery, Obstetric - methods
Effects
Female
Health Care Costs
Health care expenditures
Health care industry
Health care policy
Health maintenance organizations
Health Policy - economics
Health services
HMOs
Hospital Charges
Hospitalization
Hospitals
Humans
Implementation
Insurance coverage
Law
Legislation
Length of stay
Length of Stay - economics
Length of Stay - legislation & jurisprudence
Maryland
Medicaid
Middle Aged
Mothers
Multivariate Analysis
Patients
Postnatal Care - economics
Postnatal Care - legislation & jurisprudence
PPOs
Pregnancy
Regression analysis
State laws
Statistical analysis
Studies
Vagina
Variables
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Summary:We evaluate the change in length-of-stay and charges for vaginal and cesarean deliveries before and after the implementation of a law establishing a minimum maternity stay in Maryland. Using discharge abstract data collected by the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, we find that after the law was enacted, Maryland's average length-of-stay and average charges for both types of deliveries increased, but the increase in charges was less than the cost of an average hospital day. Multivariate analysis shows that the implementation of the law reduced the sources of variation among mothers' length-of-stay and hospital charges. Overall, we estimate that the law cost payers an additional $5.5 million for maternity stays.
ISSN:0278-2715
1544-5208
DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.17.5.208