Association between perinatal medical expenses and a waiver to increase Florida healthy start services within Florida medicaid programs: 1998 to 2006.

To assess the association between perinatal care expenditures and a Medicaid waiver to increase Florida Healthy Start services among Florida Medicaid non-managed care organization (non-MCO) program enrollees. We assessed perinatal care expenditures from Medicaid claims and encounter data among non-MCO enrollees with increased risk pregnancies who gave birth in Florida during 1998-2006. We used a pre-post design to compare adjusted perinatal medical expenditures among women who received Healthy Start care coordination (n = 41,067) to women who were not contacted by the Healthy Start program after screening (n = 24,282). We calculated adjusted average costs and difference-in-differences using marginal estimates from multivariable linear mixed regression models. From the pre-waiver (January 1998-July 2001) to the late-post waiver (July 2004-December 2006), all prenatal medical costs increased $274 among care coordination participants and decreased $601 among women not contacted by the Healthy Start program, equaling a $875 increased cost difference between care coordination and no contact groups. During this same time period, delivery related expenditures increased $395 less among care coordination participants compared to women not contacted by Healthy Start. Additionally, infant medical care costs during days 29-365 decreased by an average of $240 less among the care coordination compared to the no contact group. The Medicaid waiver may have decreased delivery costs, but medical costs were increased following the waiver when considering all perinatal care. Further exploration of factors associated with the decreased delivery costs may help develop more efficient prenatal support programs.