How Medicaid Supports Maternal and Infant Health in Florida

Medicaid Helps Florida Mothers And Babies Get The Care They Need

Medicaid coverage plays a vital role in ensuring that no mother or infant in Florida falls through the cracks during the first year postpartum. Medicaid finances 42% of births in Florida, slightly above the national average.¹ While Florida has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, coverage for maternity care, including prenatal and birth services, remains a core benefit for eligible pregnant women in the state.²

Medicaid also has a vital role to play in ensuring that Florida parents and infants get the right care at the right time in the year following a birth to promote and protect maternal health, infant health, and early childhood development.

Mothers and babies need access to care for well-visits including screening and treatment of physical and mental health needs. During pregnancy and following the birth of a new baby, Florida Medicaid coverage includes services such as effective interventions for smoking, alcohol, and substance use, as well as treatment for chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and depression.³

Medicaid Is A Key Player In Combating Florida’s Maternal Health Crisis

Florida’s maternal mortality rate was 18.5 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023,⁴ just below the national average of 18.6.⁵ A larger category of pregnancy-related mortality includes deaths during pregnancy and up to a year after pregnancy from associated causes.

The most common medical causes of pregnancy-related death in Florida are cardiovascular conditions, infection, hemorrhage, embolism (clots), and hypertension. Mental health conditions, such as depression, are a contributing cause of pregnancy-related mortality in Florida, including suicide and homicide—highly preventable causes of death. In fact, studies show that more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.⁶

Thousands of Florida mothers experience severe maternal morbidity, or unexpected labor and delivery outcomes that create negative and often life-threatening health effects. These include the need for a blood transfusion, stroke or heart attack, sepsis (infections), or eclampsia causing seizures from elevated blood pressure. In Florida, the severe maternal morbidity rate is 10.3 per 1,000 delivery hospitalizations, with significant racial disparities.⁷ Severe maternal morbidity can lead to increased medical costs and longer hospital stays for Florida families.⁸

Florida Is Using Medicaid To Improve Maternal And Infant Health

In the face of the maternal mortality crisis, many state Medicaid programs have intensified their focus on improving maternal health. Medicaid coverage is more widely available to women once they become pregnant. In 2022, Congress gave states the option to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months, drawing on state data showing that nearly half of maternal deaths occur in the year following birth.⁹ Florida has joined 48 other states and D.C. in adopting postpartum extension from 60 days to 12 months to keep coverage stable during a time of family change and critical period of early childhood development when every mother and infant need health care.^{10, 11}

Beyond ensuring stable coverage, Florida has enhanced maternal health services through newly Medicaid-funded services, such as community-based doulas¹² and home visiting. ^{13, 14}

Medicaid Supports Florida Infants Born Too Soon Or Too Small

Medicaid is essential to ensuring that preterm or low birthweight babies have access to the additional services they may need¹⁵ in a neonatal intensive care¹⁶ unit (NICU) or from their pediatric provider in the community. Approximately 12% of births financed by Medicaid are early, or preterm.¹⁷ Newborn treatments can save lives and reduce long-term disabilities that can result from preterm birth.¹⁸ In addition, under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), Florida’s Early Steps program receives Medicaid funding for some medical and related services for infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities, improving access to care needed to reduce adverse long-term impacts.

Medicaid Coverage Of Pregnant Women And Children In Florida Is Linked To Long-Term Health, Educational And Economic Outcomes

Longitudinal studies have increasingly linked¹⁹ Medicaid coverage for mothers and young children with improved health and lower rates of disability in adulthood. Medicaid coverage is associated with higher educational attainment and greater financial security, and even improved birth outcomes across two generations.²⁰ Some studies have also documented financial benefits²¹ for society and a strong return on government investment.²²