Grant money will fund UAMS study on how Medicaid expansion would affect maternal health
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Millions of federal dollars will help study how more Medicaid coverage for pregnancy and postpartum-related services could improve maternal health outcomes in Arkansas.
Why it matters: Medicaid pays for about half of births in Arkansas. So what it does and doesn't cover during and after pregnancy can greatly affect maternal health outcomes in the state, which has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the U.S.
State of play: The federal money comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which awarded Arkansas $17 million for maternal health initiatives.
- The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences expects to get about $4 million, and its Institute for Community Health Innovation in Springdale will take the lead on how it's spent, institute director Pearl McElfish told Axios.
Zoom in: The institute is already ramping up maternal health services like training doulas.
- UAMS is also training perinatal health workers who can help bridge gaps like following up with postpartum moms who miss their appointments, connecting people with services if they are housing or food insecure, or offering support for those with language barriers or who distrust the health care system.
- The grant money will further help UAMS pilot these programs plus others and perform economic studies to show how much it would cost the state to cover more services with Medicaid and how much the state would save in the long run by investing in that coverage, McElfish said.
Between the lines: The limited perinatal health workers are generally covered by grants. Medicaid rarely covers doula services, which McElfish has said are shown to be the most effective for low-income patients.
- Covering remote monitoring for issues like gestational diabetes could also improve outcomes in a rural state where patients live far from their doctor's offices.
Background: The Strategic Committee for Maternal Health that Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed to come up with recommendations for improving maternal health recommended applying for the federal grant.
Zoom out: The full breakdown on which organizations will receive a piece of the $17 million is TBD, Arkansas Department of Human Services spokesperson Gavin Lesnick told Axios.
- DHS is responsible for administering the federal grant money.