Achieving Cancer Equity by Improving Health Insurance Access for All Latinos.

Cancer is the top leading cause of death among Latino people. Lack of health insurance is a significant contributor to inadequate cancer detection and treatment. Despite healthcare policy expansions such as the Affordable Care Act, Latino people persistently maintain the highest uninsured rate among any ethnic and racial group in the US, especially among Latino individuals who are immigrants or part of a mixed immigration status household. Recognizing that immigration status is a critical factor in the ability of Latino community members to seek health insurance and access healthcare services, a few US states and the District of Columbia have implemented policies that have expanded coverage to children and adults regardless of immigration status. Expansion of Medicaid eligibility regardless of immigration status may significantly benefit Latino communities, however the facilitators and barriers to enrolling in these programs need to be evaluated to ensure reach and achieve health equity across the cancer control continuum for all Latinos.

Iran's health insurance ecosystem: challenges and strategies.

INTRODUCTION: Identifying and exploiting stewardship and financing challenges in Iran's health insurance system as an ecosystem is essential to achieving predetermined goals. This study aimed to determine the challenges and strategies in the Iranian health insurance ecosystem to provide relevant evidence to healthcare managers and policymakers to improve its functions and perform necessary reforms. METHOD: This qualitative study was conducted at the national level in Iran. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the directed content analysis method. The study participants included managers and experts in health insurance and faculty of universities of medical sciences, who were selected by purposive sampling. RESULTS: The challenges and strategies expressed by participants were categorized into two functions: stewardship and financing. Four main themes, ten subthemes, 22 challenges, and 24 strategies were identified in the stewardship function, along with three main themes, 12 subthemes, 17 challenges, and 16 strategies in the financing function. The major challenge in the Iranian health insurance ecosystem was the complexity and conflict of interests between multiple actors with different roles, which led to fragmentation, diverse structures, and a gap between other functions and objectives, hindering the effective functioning of the ecosystem. CONCLUSION: In order to deal with the challenges of the health insurance ecosystem, it is suggested to create a coherent insurance system through a single utility system, and by paying more attention to health-oriented services, the health insurance ecosystem becomes a health-oriented system instead of being treatment-oriented. In addition, in order to strengthen the governance of the country's health insurance ecosystem, the number of actors with multiple roles should be reduced and the roles of the actors should be clarified and separated in order to prevent conflicts of interest and structural corruption in this ecosystem.

Application of type II diabetes incidence and mortality rates for insurance.

Prolonging life is a global trend, and more medical expenditure is being spent on chronic diseases owing to population aging. Diseases commonly seen in middle-aged and elderly people, such as heart disease and diabetes, have slowed mortality improvement in recent years. Diabetes is a common chronic disease and comorbidity of many serious health conditions. The total estimated cost of diabetes in the United States was $327 billion in 2017. However, many people are unaware that diabetes is common, and at least 21.4% of adults do not know that they have diabetes. The number of diabetes-related deaths has been increasing, and diabetes was the 5th cause of death in Taiwan in 2019. In this study, we explore the trend and influence of diabetes in Taiwan and apply mortality models, such as the Lee-Carter and Age-Period-Cohort models, using data from Taiwan's National Insurance to model the incidence and mortality rates of diabetes. We found that the Lee-Carter model provides fairly satisfactory estimates and that people with diabetes regularly taking diabetes medication have lower mortality rates. Moreover, we demonstrate how these results can be used to design diabetes related insurance products and prepare the insured to face the impact of incurring diabetes. In addition, we consider different criteria for judging whether people have diabetes (as there is no consensus on these criteria) and investigate the issue of moral hazard in designing diabetes insurance products.

Social Determinants of Health and Insurance Claim Denials for Preventive Care.

Importance: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) eliminated out-of-pocket cost-sharing for recommended preventive care for most privately insured patients. However, patients seeking preventive care continue to face cost-sharing and administrative hurdles, including claim denials, which may exacerbate inequitable access to care. Objective: To determine whether patient demographics and social determinants of health are associated with denials of insurance claims for preventive care. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study of patients insured through their employers or the ACA Marketplaces used claims and remittance data from Symphony Health Solutions' Integrated DataVerse from 2017 to 2020; analysis was completed from January to July 2024. Exposure: Seeking preventive care. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was the frequency of insurer denials for preventive services across 5 categories: specific benefit denials, billing errors, coverage lapses, inadequate coverage, and other. Subgroup analysis was performed across patient household income, education, and race and ethnicity. Secondary outcomes included charges for denied claims, approximating patients' remaining financial responsibility for care. Results: A total of 1 535 181 patients received 4 218 512 preventive services in 2 507 943 unique visits (mean [SD] age at visits, 54.02 [13.19] years; 1 804 637 visits for female patients [71.96%]); 585 299 patients (23.30%) had an annual household income $100 000 or higher, and 824 540 patients had some college education (32.88%). A total of 20 658 individuals (0.82%) were Asian, 139 950 (5.58%) were Hispanic, 219 646 (8.76%) were non-Hispanic Black, 1 372 223 (54.72%) were non-Hispanic White, and 25 412 (1.0%1) were other races and ethnicities not included in the other 4 groups. Of preventive claims, 1.34% (95% CI, 1.32%-1.36%) were denied, consisting mainly of specific benefit denials (0.67%; 95% CI, 0.66%-0.68%) and billing errors (0.51%; 95% CI, 0.50%-0.52%). The lowest-income patients had 43.0% higher odds of experiencing a denial than the highest-income patients (odds ratio, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.37-1.50; P < .001). The least educated enrollees had a denial rate of 1.79% (95% CI, 1.76%-1.82%) compared with 1.14% (95% CI, 1.12%-1.16%) for enrollees with college degrees. Denial rates for Asian (2.72%; 95% CI, 2.55%-2.90%), Hispanic (2.44%; 95% CI, 2.38%-2.50%), and non-Hispanic Black (2.04%; 95% CI, 1.99%-2.08%) patients were significantly higher than those for non-Hispanic White patients (1.13%; 95% CI, 1.12%-1.15%). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of 1 535 181 patients seeking preventive care, denials of insurance claims for preventive care were disproportionately more common among at-risk patient populations. This administrative burden potentially perpetuates inequitable access to high-value health care.

Impact of primary dressings on healing of venous leg ulcers: a French cohort study from the healthcare insurance database.

OBJECTIVE: Multicomponent bandages (MCBs) are recommended by the French Authority for Health (Haute Autorité de Santé) as first-line treatment for venous leg ulcers (VLUs). A first analysis of the data collected from the French administrative healthcare database (Système National des Données de Santé (SNDS)) on 25,255 patients with a VLU supported superiority of MCBs versus short stretch bandages when considering the healing outcomes and costs associated with closure of these wounds. The aim of this study was to assess how beneficial the primary dressing (technology lipido-colloid nano-oligosaccharide factor (TLC NOSF) or control dressing group (CDG)) could be, when used in combination with MCBs in the treatment of VLUs. METHOD: Data from the SNDS were collected for patients meeting the following inclusion criteria: treatment for a VLU with MCBs and with the same dressing type (TLC-NOSF or CDG) during the whole treatment period. Healing outcomes were documented on the global cohorts and propensity score-matched cohorts. The mean healthcare cost and the ecological impact were calculated for those patients healed within the study period. RESULTS: In total, 12,507 patients met the criteria for treatment with both MCBs and TLC-NOSF dressings (n=1134) versus MCBs and CDG (n=11,373); with 1134 and 2268 patients per group following propensity score matching. Healing outcomes were favourable for the TLC-NOSF group in the global cohort and were enhanced in the propensity score-matched cohorts. At every point of the analysis, the adjusted healing rates were significantly higher in the TLC-NOSF group than in the CDG group (p<0.001). In the propensity score-matched cohorts (n=3402), the healing rate at three months was 52% in the TLC-NOSF group versus 37% in the CDG group (p<0.001). The median healing time was 87 days versus 125.5 days in the TLC-NOSF and CDG groups, respectively (p<0.0001). TLC-NOSF dressings significantly reduced the average treatment cost per healed ulcer (€2099) by 23.7% compared with dressings without TLC-NOSF (€2751) (p<0.001), as well as the resources used. CONCLUSION: This SNDS analysis confirms, in the largest real-life study performed in VLU management, the superiority of the TLC-NOSF dressings versus those not impregnated with the NOSF compound. Better clinical outcomes associated with cost savings and a positive ecological impact support the combination of MCBs and TLC-NOSF dressings and should be considered as an optimal standard of care for the global management of VLUs. These outcomes reinforce the current positions of the international guidelines on the use of NOSF impregnated dressings (UrgoStart range; Laboratoires Urgo, France) in this pathology.

When is a network adequate? consumer perspectives on network adequacy definitions.

OBJECTIVES: Most Americans have insurance that uses managed care arrangements. Regulators have long sought to ensure access to care through network adequacy regulations. However, consumers have largely been excluded from conversations about network adequacy. To our knowledge, our study is the first to assess consumer preferences for various definitions of network adequacy including those aimed at supporting health equity and reducing disparities. STUDY DESIGN: We fielded a large and demographically diverse survey of US adults (N = 4008) from June 30 to July 2, 2023. The survey queried respondents about their perceptions of what adequate provider networks look like in the abstract. METHODS: Analyses were conducted using ordinary least squares regression with survey weights as well as t tests. RESULTS: Consumers were overwhelmingly supportive of standard definitions of adequacy focused on the number of providers and travel distance. Majorities also favored more expansive, health equity-focused definitions such as public transportation access, cultural competency, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+)-inclusive care. Being a woman; having higher levels of education, worse health, and recent experiences with the medical system; and ease of completing administrative tasks were relatively consistent positive predictors of supporting more expansive definitions. More controversial definitions saw effects of partisanship and LGBT+ identification. Rurality, insurance status, education, and recent experiences with the medical system affected perceptions of reasonable appointment wait times and travel distances. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that consumers have broad conceptions of network adequacy. Future work should assess consumer trade-offs in resource-constrained settings as well as perceptions of providers and carriers.

Systemic treatments for advanced prostate cancer: relationship between health insurance plan and treatment costs.

OBJECTIVES: The high costs of cancer care can cause significant harm to patients and society. Prostate cancer, the leading nonskin malignancy in men, is responsible for the second-highest out-of-pocket (OOP) payments among all malignancies. Multiple first-line treatment options exist for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC); although their costs vary substantially, comparative effectiveness data are limited. There is little evidence of how gross payments made by insurers and OOP payments made by patients differ by treatment and health plan type and how these payment differences relate to utilization. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: We used IBM MarketScan databases from 2013-2019 to identify men with prostate cancer who initiated treatment with 1 of 6 drugs approved for first-line treatment of mCRPC. We calculated and compared gross and OOP payments and drug utilization across drug and insurance plan types. RESULTS: We identified 4298 patients who met our inclusion criteria. Insurer payments varied substantially by first-line therapy but were similar across different health plan types, except for docetaxel. OOP payments for a given first-line therapy, in contrast, varied by health plan type. Utilization of first-line therapies varied by plan type in unadjusted analyses, but not after adjusting for patient characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The extent to which patient OOP payments for drugs reflect differences in gross payments made by insurers varies across health insurance plan types. However, even though OOP payments for the same treatment differ across plan types, treatment choice is not significantly different across type of health insurance after controlling for patient characteristics.

Beyond average spending: distributional and seasonal commercial insurance trends, 2012-2021.

OBJECTIVES: The annual mean spending measures typically used to study longitudinal trends mask distributional and seasonal variation that is relevant to patients' perceptions of health care affordability and, in turn, provider collections. This study describes shifts in the distribution and seasonality of plan and patient out-of-pocket spending from 2012 through 2021. STUDY DESIGN: Analysis of multipayer commercial claims data. METHODS: Medical spending per enrollee was calculated by summing inpatient, outpatient, and professional services, which comprised plan payments and out-of-pocket payments (deductible, coinsurance, co-payment). To account for the long right tail of the spending distribution, enrollees were stratified by their decile of annual medical spending, and annual mean spending estimates were calculated overall and by decile. Mean spending estimates were also calculated by quarter-year. RESULTS: Inflation-adjusted medical spending grew most quickly among the highest decile of spenders, without proportional growth in their out-of-pocket expenses. Out-of-pocket spending increased for the majority of enrollees in our sample prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, in real dollars and as a share of total medical spending. Out-of-pocket spending was increasingly concentrated in the early months of the calendar year, driven by deductible spending, and was lower in 2020 and 2021, plausibly due to policies limiting cost sharing for COVID-19-related services. CONCLUSIONS: Insurance is working well to protect the highest spenders at the cost of reduced insurance generosity among spenders elsewhere in the distribution. The increasing cross-subsidization among enrollees through cost-sharing design-vs premiums-is a trend to watch among rising public concerns about underinsurance and medical debt.

Understanding Variation in Negotiated Rates Using Novel Health Plan Price Transparency Data.

This study uses health plan price transparency data to examine how negotiated rates for the same service vary within and across US payers and hospitals.

Equity considerations for the implementation of health insurance benefit package in Ethiopia: result of expert Delphi exercise.

BACKGROUND: Efficiency, equity and financial risk protection are key health systems objectives. Equitable distribution of health care is among the priority strategic initiative of the government of Ethiopia. However, data on the distribution of interventions benefits or on disease burden disaggregated by subpopulations to guide health care priority setting is not available in Ethiopia. METHODS: Aligned with policy documents, we identified the following groups to be the worse off in the Ethiopian context: under-five children, women of reproductive age, the poor, and rural residents. We used the Delphi technique by a panel of 28 experts to assign a score for 253 diseases/conditions over a period of two days, in phases. The expert panel represented different institutes and professional mix. Experts assigned a score 1 to 4; where 4 indicates disease/condition predominantly affecting the poor and rural residents and 1 indicates a condition more prevalent among the wealthy and urban residents. Subsequently, the average equity score was computed for each disease/condition. RESULTS: The average scores ranged from 1.11 (for vitiligo) to 3.79 (for obstetric fistula). We standardized the scores to be bounded between 1 and 2; 1 the lowest equity score and 2 the highest equity score. The scores for each disease/condition were then assigned to their corresponding interventions. We used these equity scores to adjust the CEA values for each of the interventions. To adjust the CEA values for equity, we multiplied the health benefits (the denominator of the cost-effectiveness value) of each intervention by the corresponding equity scores, resulting in equity adjusted CEA values. The equity adjusted CEA was then used to rank the interventions using a league table. CONCLUSIONS: The Delphi method can be useful in generating equity scores for prioritizing health interventions where disaggregated data on the distribution of diseases or access to interventions by subpopulation groups are not available.

Impact of Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance integration on individual social fairness perceptions: evidence from rural China.

Background: Achieving universal health insurance coverage has become a fundamental policy for improving the accessibility and equity of healthcare services. China's Urban-Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URRBMI) is a crucial component of the social security system, aimed at promoting social equity and enhancing public welfare. However, the effectiveness of this policy in improving rural residents' social fairness perceptions (SFP) remains to be tested. Objective: To examine the impact of the urban-rural resident basic medical insurance (URRBMI) on rural residents' social fairness perception (SFP) in China. Methods and samples: The study utilizes city-level and national micro-survey (CGSS) datasets, applying a time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) approach to analyze the equity effects of URRBMI. Excluding urban samples, the final dataset consists of 20,800 rural respondents from 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2015, covering 89 cities. Results: Key findings reveal that URRBMI has a significant negative effect on SFP. The impact varies depending on the integration model and intensifies over time. Additionally, the negative effect shows heterogeneity based on income, age, health, and region. Conclusion: This study highlights the complexities and impacts of integrating China's urban and rural healthcare systems. It provides a detailed understanding of the role of URRBMI in rural China, emphasizing the need for targeted approaches to improve rural residents' perceptions of social fairness. The research offers specific policy recommendations, such as establishing differentiated contribution standards, implementing welfare policies favoring rural residents, and adopting varied reimbursement rates for different diseases.

Email Nudges Increased Eligibility Verification And Subsidy Receipt In California's ACA Marketplace.

In the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces, enrollees must periodically demonstrate their eligibility to receive income-linked health insurance premium subsidies. Marketplaces can verify eligibility using existing records, but only with consumers' consent, which must be renewed at specified times. In a randomized experiment in September 2020, we tested the effect of email nudges reminding consumers to provide consent for verification of their continued eligibility for premium subsidies in California's ACA Marketplace. More than 20,000 households that had applied for subsidies but whose consent for eligibility verification would soon expire were sent one, two, or three emails reminding them to renew consent. Sending three emails increased consent updates by 1.9 percentage points (3.2 percent) and increased receipt of subsidies by 2.0 percentage points (4.0 percent). However, nearly 40 percent of households receiving three emails did not update their consent by the end of the open enrollment period, thus preventing their continued receipt of subsidies. To improve the affordability of Marketplace coverage, new policies and structural changes may be needed to reduce administrative barriers that can inhibit access to subsidies.

Household financial burden associated with out-of-pocket payments for healthcare in Iran: insights from a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: One of the key functions and ultimate goals of health systems is to provide financial protection for individuals when using health services. This study sought to evaluate the level of financial protection and its inequality among individuals covered by the Social Security Organization (SSO) health insurance between September and December 2023 in Iran. METHODS: We collected data on 1691 households in five provinces using multistage sampling to examine the prevalence of catastrophic healthcare expenditure (CHE) at four different thresholds (10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%) of the household's capacity to pay (CTP). Additionally, we explored the prevalence of impoverishment due to health costs and assessed socioeconomic-related inequality in OOP payments for healthcare using the concentration index and concentration curve. To measure equity in out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for healthcare, we utilized the Kakwani progressivity index (KPI). Furthermore, we employed multiple logistic regression to identify the main factors contributing to households experiencing CHE. FINDINGS: The study revealed that households in our sample allocated approximately 11% of their budgets to healthcare services. The prevalence of CHE at the thresholds of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% was found to be 47.1%, 30.1%, 20.1%, and 15.7%, respectively. Additionally, we observed that about 7.9% of the households experienced impoverishment due to health costs. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the age of the head of the household, place of residence, socioeconomic status, utilization of dental services, utilization of medicine, and province of residence were the main factors influencing CHE. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that while wealthy households spend more money on healthcare, poorer households spend a larger proportion of their total income to healthcare costs. The KPI showed that households with lower total expenditures had higher OOP payments relative to their CTP. CONCLUSION: The study findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to improve financial protection in healthcare and mitigate inequalities among individuals covered by SSO. It is recommended that these interventions prioritize the expansion of coverage for dental services and medication expenses, particularly for lower socioeconomic status household.

Medicaid compared to private insurance is associated with lower rates of sterilization in people with unwanted births.

BACKGROUND: Medicaid, unlike any other insurance mechanism, imposes a consent requirement on female patients desiring sterilization that must be completed at least 30 days, but no more than 180 days, before sterilization. Desired sterilization cannot be completed in the Medicaid population without this consent. Large-scale national evidence is lacking on the effect of this requirement. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the influence of insurance status on the achievement of postpartum sterilization after a self-reported unwanted birth in a nationally representative sample. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort analysis using data from the 2013-2015 National Survey of Family Growth. The National Survey of Family Growth uses a stratified, multistage clustered sample to make nationally representative estimates for men and women aged 15 to 44 years in the household population of the United States. The analysis was limited to a cohort of birthing people who reported their last birth as unwanted and who were insured by either Medicaid or private insurance. The survey was analyzed with the application of inverse probability of treatment weights to balance those with Medicaid and those with private insurance in addition to the survey weight. The association between completion of postpartum sterilization and insurance type was evaluated using weighted logistic regression, adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: In an adjusted and inverse probability of treatment weight balanced analysis of a weighted national sample representing 4,164,304 people (416 respondents), Medicaid-insured birthing people with history of unwanted births were found to have 56% lower odds of obtaining postpartum sterilization (odds ratio, 0.44; 95% confidence interval, 0.22-0.87; P=.019) than those with private insurance. CONCLUSION: This study adds to mounting evidence that insurance type plays a significant role in the achievement of desired postpartum sterilization, with individuals with Medicaid less likely to undergo the procedure. The findings call for policy reforms around sterilization policy in the United States, emphasizing the need for uniform consent procedures that do not discriminate based on insurance status.

The transformation of Jordan's healthcare system in an area of conflict.

BACKGROUND: The Jordanian healthcare system has evolved over the past decades expanding its services, technological, and educational resources. A comprehensive view of this system is lacking. The objective of this report is to describe the structure of the Jordanian healthcare system, the challenges facing it, and the current and recommended health policies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study reviewed the current status of the Jordanian healthcare system. The following parameters were analyzed: health indicators, infrastructure, human resources, insurance system, pharmaceutical expense, health education system, and medical tourism. Data were collected from various relevant official institutions and related published literature. RESULTS: Jordan has a young population with a median age of 23.8 years. Life expectancy is 78.8 years for females and 77.0 years for males. The Jordanian healthcare system is divided into three major categories: (1) Governmental Insurance (i.e., the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Royal Medical Services (RMS) and semi-governmental insurance); (2) Private Insurance; and (3) Refugee Insurance, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (NHUR). The Governmental Insurance covers 64.30% of the total population. Health expenditure is 6.37% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Pharmaceutical expenses make up 26.6% of the total national healthcare budget. Human resource assessment shows a high ratio of medical staff per 10.000 inhabitants, especially concerning physicians (31.7), dentists (7.9), and pharmacists (15.1). However, the ratio of nursing staff per 10.000 inhabitants is considered low (37.5). The Hospital bed/1000 population ratio is also relatively low (1.4). Healthcare accreditation is implemented through the Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation which was achieved by 7 hospitals and by the National Health Care Accreditation Certificate (HCAC) achieved by 17 hospitals and 42 primary healthcare centers. Postgraduate medical education covers almost all medical and surgical fields. Medical tourism is currently well-established. CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of the Jordanian healthcare system shows high ratios of physicians, dentists, and pharmacists but a low ratio of nursing staff per 10.000 inhabitants. The hospital bed/1000 population ratio is also relatively low. Pharmaceutical expenses are significantly high and medical tourism is well-developed.

Interrupted time series analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and compulsory social health insurance system on fertility rates: a study of live births in Kazakhstan, 2019-2023.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered global health crises, affecting population health directly through infections and fatalities, and indirectly by increasing the burden of chronic diseases due to disrupted healthcare access and altered lifestyle behaviors. Amidst these challenges, concerns regarding reproductive health and fertility rates have emerged, necessitating an understanding of their implications for policymaking and healthcare planning. Furthermore, Kazakhstan's healthcare landscape underwent significant changes with the reintroduction of compulsory social health insurance system in January 2020, coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and compulsory social health insurance system on fertility rates in Kazakhstan by examining live birth data from 2019 to 2024. Methods: Using Interrupted Time Series analysis, we evaluated the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown announcement and compulsory social health insurance system implementation on monthly birth rates, adjusted for the number of women of reproductive age from January 2019 to December 2023. Results: In the final model, the coefficients were as follows: the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown was estimated at 469 (SE = 2600, p = 0.8576); the centering variable was estimated at 318 (SE = 222, p = 0.1573), suggesting no significant trend in monthly birth rates over time; the insurance effect was estimated at 7,050 (SE = 2,530, p < 0.01); and the effect of the number of women of reproductive age was estimated at -0.204 (SE = 0.0831, p = 0.01). Discussion: The implementation of the compulsory social health insurance system, rather than the announcement of the COVID-19 lockdown, has had a significant positive impact on live birth rates in Kazakhstan. However, despite governmental efforts, live birth rates are declining, potentially due to unaddressed health needs of fertile women and economic challenges. Urgent policy-level actions are needed to address gaps in healthcare services and promote reproductive health.