Does public health insurance improve health care? The case of prenatal care for adolescents in Mexico

Objective. To test the association between public health insurance and adequate prenatal care among female adolescents in Mexico. Materials and methods. Cross-sectional study, using the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2000, 2006, and 2012. We included 3 978 (N=4522296) adolescent (12-19) women who reported a live birth. We used logistic regression models to test the association of insurance and adequate (timeliness, frequency and content) prenatal care. Results. The multivariable predicted probability of timely and frequent prenatal care improved over time, from 0.60 (IC95%:0.56;0.64) in 2000 to 0.71 (IC95%:0.66;0.76) in 2012. In 2012, the probability of adequate prenatal care was 0.54 (IC95%:0.49;0.58); women with Social Security had higher probability than women with Seguro Popular and without health insurance. Conclusion. Having Social Security is associated with receipt of adequate prenatal care among adolescents in Mexico.