Reference Catalog

Statewide Medicaid Enhanced Prenatal Care Programs and Infant Mortality

Cristian I. Meghea, Zhiying You, Jennifer Raffo, Richard E. Leach, and Lee Anne Roman

• Other Models

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether participation in a statewide enhanced prenatal and postnatal abstract care program, the Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP), reduced infant mortality risk. METHODS: Data included birth and death records, Medicaid claims, and program participation. The study population consisted of Medicaid-insured singleton infants born between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2012, in Michigan (n = 248 059). The MIHP participants were propensity score-matched with nonparticipants based on demographics, previous pregnancies, socioeconomic status, and chronic disease. Infant mortality, neonatal mortality, and postneonatal mortality analyses were presented by race. RESULTS: Infants with any MIHP participation had reduced odds of death in the first year of life compared with matched nonparticipants (odds ratio [OR] 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.63–0.84). Infant death odds were reduced both among black infants (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.58–0.87) and infants of other races (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.61–0.91). Neonatal death (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.57–0.86) and postneonatal death odds (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.63–0.96) were also reduced. Enrollment and screening in MIHP by the end of the second pregnancy trimester and at least 3 additional prenatal MIHP contacts reduced infant mortality odds further (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.58–0.85; neonatal: OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.51–0.89; postneonatal: OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.56–0.98). CONCLUSIONS: A state Medicaid-sponsored population-based home-visitation program can be a successful approach to reduce mortality risk in a diverse, disadvantaged population. A likely mechanism is the reduction in the risk of adverse birth outcomes, consistent with previous findings on the effects of the program. (author abstract)

Finished

• Participant, Family, and Program Outcomes