Population Studies and Training Center

Maria Steenland is a health services and health policy researcher focused on maternal and reproductive health policy in the United States. Her research uses econometric methods to evaluate maternal and reproductive health programs and policies, with a particular focus on Medicaid policy. Her previous research has tested the impact of Medicaid expansion on postpartum coverage and outpatient care use in Arkansas, and the effect of reimbursement for immediate postpartum long-acting reversible contraception on postpartum contraceptive use. She holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Science in Global Health and Population from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Dr. Steenland is currently funded by a K01 award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality focused on the role of postpartum insurance on racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health. In addition to her K01 project, she is the PI of an R21 award from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development to examine the relationship between state insurance restrictions for postpartum immigrants and receipt of postpartum care in the state's immigrant population. She is also the PI of a pilot study at Women & Infants Hospital in Rhode Island, with funding from Rhode Island’s Advance Clinical and Translational Research Project, to examine barriers to postpartum LARC removal.