Arkansas Gets $17M Federal Grant to Support Maternal Health Initiatives

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Arkansas has been awarded a $17 million federal grant to support its efforts to improve maternal health, the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) announced Monday.

The Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model grant was awarded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It will provide state Medicaid funding over 10 years with a goal of reducing disparities in access and treatment for pregnant women, new mothers and babies.

The grant is built on three main pillars: Access to care, infrastructure, and workforce capacity; quality improvement and safety; and whole-person care delivery.

Specific investments planned in Arkansas include:

• Analyzing data to better target maternal health services
• Educating providers and pregnant women on the benefits of leveraging doulas, Community Health Workers, and midwives
• Investing in technology to better serve pregnant women and providers
• Building better technology infrastructure to collect and share data tied to maternal health measures
• Redesigning Medicaid reimbursement rates and payment structures, including a focus on incentive payments to providers whose patients have healthier outcomes
• Improving connections between health care providers and community-based organizations like nonprofits and faith-based groups that also serve low-income Arkansas women

Arkansas’ maternal and infant mortality rates are among the worst in the nation. The state consistently ranks near the bottom in women’s health and reproductive care.

Financially struggling hospitals have closed their labor and delivery units, creating “maternity deserts” in the state. Arkansas Business reported in October that fewer than half the hospitals in Arkansas — just 37 — offer birthing services.

Applying for the TMaH grant was among the recommendations made by the Strategic Committee for Maternal Health established by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

DHS will lead the project in coordination with the Arkansas Department of Health and UAMS. DHS Deputy Secretary for Programs and State Medicaid Director Janet Mann will manage the grant efforts.

“We are grateful for the support from our federal partners as we work to implement changes that will improve maternal health outcomes in Arkansas,” DHS Secretary Kristi Putnam said in a news release. “This grant announcement builds on the momentum that began last year with the Governor’s Executive Order on maternal health, and the subsequent recommendations developed by a tremendous coalition of partners, stakeholders, and other supporters. We are proud to lead the way on key reforms that further these initiatives, and excited that this significant grant will bolster our efforts.”

Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income Americans, paid for almost half the births in Arkansas in 2020. Out of the 35,251 births in Arkansas that year, 15,352 were paid by Medicaid, according to a report by Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families of Little Rock. In 2021, 35,965 babies were born in Arkansas.