Table 1. Characteristics of the Study Population1.
| Characteristic | South Carolina | California | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Pre-Expansion2 | Post-Expansion3 | Pre-Expansion4 | Post-Expansion3 | |||||
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| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Number | 45,455 | — | 84,997 | — | 241,284 | — | 958,738 | — |
| Mean Age | 25 ± 5.6 | — | 24 ± 5.7 | — | 26.7 ± 5.7 | — | 26.8 ± 5.9 | — |
| Primary Payer | ||||||||
| Medicaid | 12,465 | 27.4 | 35,726 | 42.0 | 78,798 | 32.7 | 391,351 | 40.9 |
| Uninsured | 5,709 | 12.6 | 4,287 | 5.0 | 25,694 | 10.7 | 78,882 | 8.2 |
| Private | 27,271 | 60.0 | 44,984 | 52.9 | 136,243 | 56.6 | 486,669 | 50.9 |
| Race | ||||||||
| White | 27,174 | 60.0 | 51,130 | 60.3 | 114,494 | 47.6 | 399,829 | 41.8 |
| Black | 18,149 | 40.0 | 33,648 | 39.7 | 21,025 | 8.7 | 76,038 | 8.0 |
| Hispanic | — | — | — | — | 77,968 | 32.4 | 371,456 | 38.9 |
| Other, Not White5 | — | — | — | — | 26,986 | 11.2 | 108,657 | 11.4 |
| Education | ||||||||
| High School Graduate | 34,278 | 75.5 | 64,454 | 76.0 | 68,817 | 29.5 | 315,207 | 33.7 |
| Not High School Graduate | 11,120 | 24.5 | 20,296 | 24.0 | 164,810 | 70.5 | 620,108 | 66.3 |
| Marital Status | ||||||||
| Married | 31,284 | 68.8 | 55,651 | 66.1 | 169,092 | 70.2 | 642,743 | 67.1 |
| Not Married | 14,158 | 31.2 | 28,511 | 33.9 | 71,643 | 29.8 | 314,159 | 32.8 |
| Access to Care | ||||||||
| Care Initiated in the First Trimester | 29,678 | 65.9 | 58,856 | 69.6 | 175,561 | 73.6 | 690,548 | 72.8 |
| Care Initiated Before the Third Trimester | 40,614 | 90.1 | 78,273 | 92.5 | 221,804 | 93.0 | 886,954 | 93.5 |
| Adverse Infant Health Outcomes | ||||||||
| Low Birthweight | 3,411 | 7.5 | 6,304 | 7.4 | 12,264 | 5.1 | 44,825 | 4.7 |
| IUGR/Prematurity | 2,693 | 5.9 | 6,023 | 7.1 | 10,770 | 5.7 | 38,408 | 5.2 |
| Baby's LOS Greater than Mother's LOS | 4,837 | 10.7 | 9,890 | 11.6 | 15,431 | 8.1 | 58,691 | 8.0 |
| Adverse Maternal Health Outcomes | ||||||||
| Mother's LOS Greater than Baby's LOS | 1,203 | 2.70 | 1,596 | 1.9 | 3,242 | 1.7 | 12,135 | 1.7 |
| Utilization | ||||||||
| Cesarean Section | 10,920 | 24.0 | 19,823 | 23.3 | 54,855 | 22.9 | 210,262 | 22.0 |
1
Includes all births in South Carolina and California for which mother and newborn discharge abstracts were merged with birth certificate data.
2
1988.
3
1990-91.
4
1989.
5
Includes Asian and Native American births.
NOTES: LOS is length of stay. Percentages may not add to 100 percent because of rounding. Numbers may not add to totals because of missing data. IUGR is intrauterine growth retardation.
SOURCE: Epstein, A.M., and Newhouse, J.P., Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, and Kennedy School of Government, Boston, 1998.