Unexpected costs associated with childbirth deliveries

In a significant move, the JAMA Health Forum has transitioned from a traditional information channel to a digital-only journal. All content will now be freely available for anyone to read, making it easier for a wider audience to access important information about health policy and strategies affecting medicine, health, and health care.

As an open access journal, JAMA Health Forum publishes original research, evidence-based reports, and opinions about national and global health policy, innovative approaches to health care delivery, and health care economics, access, quality, safety, equity, and reform. The journal is an international, peer-reviewed, online, open access platform that focuses on these critical areas.

A recent study published in the forum focuses on the frequency and magnitude of surprise bills for deliveries and newborn hospitalizations in the United States. Researchers, led by Kao-Ping Chua, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, estimated the potential occurrence of these bills, which are claims from out-of-network clinicians and ancillary service providers, such as an ambulance.

The study aimed to illustrate the potential benefits of federal legislation that protects families from most surprise bills. The article, which includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures, can be accessed via the For The Media website at this link: https://media.jamanetwork.com/

For those interested in reading the full-text article, it is linked here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.1460?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=070221

It's important to note that the search results do not provide the names of the researchers who conducted the study on the frequency and extent of surprise billing for deliveries and newborn hospitalizations. However, the study was edited and published, and it was given a DOI of 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.1460.

In addition to the study, JAMA Health Forum publishes articles about health care economics, access, quality, safety, equity, and reform, as well as innovative approaches to health care delivery. The journal continues to be a valuable resource for those interested in staying informed about the latest developments in health policy and strategies affecting medicine, health, and health care.