Health care

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Health care is vital for detecting and managing potential health complications and can set the foundation for lifelong health and wellbeing outcomes. Access to medical care (including through access to health insurance) helps prevent adverse outcomes, such as low birthweight and developmental delays, which can have significant long-term impacts on a child’s physical, cognitive, and emotional wellbeing.

Featured Resources

2024 Roadmap: Access to Health Insurance and Prenatal Care

Browse state-level data on health insurance coverage and adequate prenatal care, alongside other outcome measures, to track the overall health and wellbeing of infants, toddlers, and their parents.

2024 Roadmap Profile: Expanded Income Eligibility for Health Insurance

States can employ a number of strategies to increase health insurance coverage for their residents, and the most widely studied strategy is the expansion of Medicaid eligibility.

State Policy Lever Checklist: Access to Perinatal Health Insurance

This State Policy Lever Checklist includes a list of policy considerations for state leaders to help maximize the effectiveness of expanding income eligibility for health insurance.

Related Resources

State policy progress on community-based doulas in 2024

Community-based doulas are trained social service professionals who provide non-clinical emotional, physical, and informational support to expectant parents, starting during pregnancy and continuing throughout the postpartum period. Community-based doulas are one of 12 evidence-based policies

How One Funder Invests in Policy & Systems Change for Family Mental Health

This is a guest post by Kim Gilsdorf, a Program Officer for the Perigee Fund, a national philanthropy committed to prenatal-to-age-3 mental health. I work with organizations that support the mental health of families every

Partner Spotlight: Advocates Tell a Data-Driven Story About Texas Communities

The non-profit organization Texans Care for Children drives policy change to improve kids’ lives, helping them to grow up healthy, safe, and successful. But without local data, Texans Care for Children struggled to inform lawmakers

2024 Prenatal-to-3 Legislative Highlights

With most legislatures adjourned for the year, we recap the 2024 action on state policies to support children and families. So far this year, lawmakers throughout the country debated—and many passed—legislation that aligns with four key components of the prenatal-to-3 system of care.

June Update: Prenatal-to-3 State Legislative Trends

Though most legislative sessions have adjourned, lawmakers and advocates across the country continue to advance efforts to support children and families. A lot can happen at the tail end of a legislative session, as Colorado

State Policies to Promote Equity in Healthy Perinatal Outcomes: A Summary of the Evidence

Barriers to health care, high-quality health insurance, and parental leave work together to leave families and children vulnerable during the perinatal period. These barriers can shape life-long outcomes, particularly for children from historically marginalized groups.