Black and Hispanic people paid more in out-of-pocket costs for maternal care than Asian and white people with the same commercial insurance, a new study published in JAMA Health Forum found.

Why it matters: Black mothers in the U.S. face a pregnancy-related death rate that is more than three times the rate for white mothers. About 80% of these deaths are preventable. The maternal mortality rate for Hispanic women is similar to that of white mothers but has surged in recent years.

• The cost burdens of maternity care may exacerbate those significant racial disparities, the researchers say.

What they did: The study looked at pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care claims data from patients insured by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts from 2018 through 2022.

• Among nearly 77,000 unique enrollees who gave birth, almost 79% were white, roughly 10% were Asian, about 8% were Hispanic and about 4% were Black

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