CMS will award $40 million in grants to healthcare providers and coalitions to improve prenatal care to women covered by Medicaid. Organizations will use the grants to test various methods of prenatal care, including group visits with other pregnant women, birth centers providing case management and maternity care homes that offer increased access to coordinated prenatal care.
CMS will also work with hospitals in the Partnership for Patients program and other organizations, including the March of Dimes, to reduce preterm births.
It is estimated medical care in the first year of life for preterm babies covered by Medicaid averages $20,000 compared with $2,100 for full-term infants, according to the release. A 10 percent decrease in preterm births could save Medicaid more than $75 million annually.
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