VALIDITY OF INSURANCE INFORMATION ON CALIFORNIA BIRTH CERTIFICATES

Objectives. This study assessed the validity of health insurance infor mation on California birth certificates. Methods. Insurance informatio n from birth certificates and linked face-to-face interviews was compa red for 7428 postpartum women in California. Results. There was excell ent agreement between insurance information in birth certificate and i nterview data, especially when capitated plans were grouped with all o ther private coverage. Analyses using both data sources produced simil ar estimates of the likelihood of untimely prenatal care according to type of insurance coverage. Conclusions. Birth certificate data includ ing insurance information appear to be an appropriate resource for exa mining both the extent of coverage for maternity care and associations between prenatal care use and insurance status.