The impact of state policies for reducing prenatal drug use on pregnancy outcomes

Angélica Meinhofer examined the impact of punitive and supportive pre-natal drug use policies on maternal behaviors, pregnancy outcomes, and costs using national data sets. She used the CHERISH funds to purchase the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) data set, which includes the largest collection of longitudinal hospital care data in the United States, with all-payer, encounter-level information. This study addresses critical knowledge gaps regarding the impact of state policies for reducing substance use during pregnancy, and will guide policy approaches to improve maternal and infant health.

Angélica Meinhofer is an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine. She specializes in health economics and applied microeconomics. Her research examines the impact of public health interventions and drug policies on the market for controlled substances.