The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and reproductive health: harnessing data to improve care.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has great potential to improve reproductive health through several components: expanded coverage of people of reproductive age; required coverage of many reproductive health services; and insurance exchange structures that encourage individuals and states to hold plans and providers accountable. These components can work together to improve reproductive health. But in order for this to work, consumers and states need information with which to assess plans. This review article summarizes state contracting theory and argues that states should use this structure to require health plans to collect and report meaningful data that patients, providers, plans, payers, and third-party researchers can access. Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the PPACA and states must set up health insurance exchanges, populations can benefit from improved care and outcomes through data transparency.