Preventive Medicaid Coverage For Women Could Reduce Low-Weight Births, Lower Costs, Report Says

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 19 Feb 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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A not-for-profit advocacy group plans to urge Maryland lawmakers to create policies aimed at preventing low-weight births through better preventive care for women covered under Medicaid, the Baltimore Sun reports. A report released Monday by Advocates for Children and Youth said that infants who are born below normal birthweight -- less than 5.5 pounds -- account for more than 50% of state expenditures on all births. Each year, about 7,000 Maryland infants, or 9% of all births, are below the normal birthweight. About 40% of Maryland births are covered by Medicaid each year, including many low birth weight infants, according to ACY. The average hospital costs for low birth weight infants is $84,000, compared with $2,300 for normal weight infants, the report said. Low birthweight infants frequently require longer hospital stays with more need for intensive care. The average hospital stay is 40 days for the lowest birthweight infants -- those under 3.3 pounds -- compared with just under three days for infants delivered at normal weight, according to the report. Low birthweight infants also have increased risks for lifelong physical and mental disabilities that can incur further cost in the long run.

According to the Sun, ACY plans to ask a state House committee to include language in the state budget that would extend Medicaid benefits to women who have delivered low birthweight infants as a way to prevent future low-weight births. Currently, many low-income women who receive Medicaid coverage during pregnancy lose that coverage after childbirth, the Sun reports. Matthew Joseph, executive director of ACY, said the group's "biggest concern right now is these women who have a difficult pregnancy -- they are the biggest risk to have another high-risk pregnancy 18 months later." He said a "couple (of) thousand dollars to provide ongoing health services to that woman ... when you do the math, you realize the state saves money." He added that an ACY analysis found that spending $4.4 million annually for such services would save on health care costs in the long term (Desmon, Baltimore Sun, 2/17).

Reducing Low-Weight Births Could Show 'Substantial' Medicaid Savings, Editorial Says

A Sun editorial on Monday says that Maryland can "significantly" lower Medicaid costs by working to reduce the number of low birth weight births. "Since maternal health is a major risk factor, preventive health care programs for women who have had at least one poor birth outcome could help them avoid another," the editorial states. This week, state lawmakers will review "a package of preventive measures that have been proven effective in reducing low birth weight births," the editorial continues, adding that in "tough times like these, every dollar saved counts." The editorial says that a "preventive strategy aimed at improving birth outcomes among women without regular access to health care could also significantly impact the state's infant mortality rate of eight deaths for every 1,000 live births, one of the highest in the nation." The editorial concludes that the state savings "could be substantial, and they shouldn't be counted just in dollars but also in the lives and well-being of its most vulnerable citizens -- its children" (Baltimore Sun, 2/16).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

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