Increase in Health Care Utilization of Texas Infants with Congenital Anomalies Following Senate Bill 8

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the impact of Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8), which bans early abortion, on health care utilization of infants with congenital anomalies.

Study design

The Texas Inpatient Public Use Data File was queried for inpatient encounters of Texas patients <1 year old between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2023. Encounters were grouped as pre-SB8 (July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021) and post-SB8 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023). Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used to compare rates of congenital anomaly admissions, mortality, length of stay, and hospital charges.

Results

Among 1 149 242 infant inpatient admissions, 204 580 were for patients with congenital anomalies. Post-SB8, the proportions of anomaly admissions increased from 17.1% to 19.0% (P < .0001). Mortality and length of stay of these admissions remained similar. However, total charges for congenital anomaly admissions increased by $1.89 billion to over $8.7 billion post-SB8 (P < .0001), accounting for 56.5% of all inpatient charges despite comprising a minority of admissions.

Conclusions

Following SB8, inpatient admissions and charges for infants with congenital anomalies increased significantly. Although these patients represent a small proportion of admissions, their care accounts for a disproportionate share of hospital costs and increased by $1.89 billion following SB8. Future studies should explore outpatient costs and long-term outcomes following abortion restrictions.