ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

ASSEMBLY, No. 5021

 

with committee amendments

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED:  MARCH 18, 2019

 

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 5021, with committee amendments.

      As amended by the committee, this bill provides for an expansion of the State Medicaid program to include coverage of group prenatal care services under certain circumstances.  As used in the bill, “ group prenatal care services”  means a series of prenatal care visits provided in a group setting which are based upon the CenteringPregnancy model developed by the Centering Healthcare Institute and which include health assessments, social and clinical support, and educational activities.

      Specifically, the amended bill provides that coverage under the Medicaid program includes expenses incurred for the provision of group prenatal care services to a pregnant woman, provided that:

      (1)  the provider of services is a site accredited by the Centering Healthcare Institute that utilizes the CenteringPregnancy model and the provider incorporates the applicable information outlined in any best practices manual for prenatal and postpartum maternal care developed by the Department of Health into the curriculum for each group prenatal visit;

      (2)  each group prenatal care visit is at least 1.5 hours in duration, with a minimum of two women and a maximum of 20 women in participation; and 

      (3)  no more than 10 group prenatal care visits occur per pregnancy.

 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments remove language that would have established an age range for pregnant women to receive coverage under the bill and make various technical corrections.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates that this bill may provide an indeterminate decrease in expenditures to the State due to the provision of group prenatal care services to pregnant women who receive health care services under the State’s Medicaid program.  Any savings realized by the State under the bill will be matched by a decrease in federal Medicaid funds. While the bill does not specify a reimbursement rate for group prenatal services, this estimate assumes that the rate will be less than the rate for one-on-one prenatal services provided under the Medicaid program, that eligible women will utilize group prenatal services as a replacement for one-on-one prenatal services, and that the number of group prenatal visits per eligible Medicaid enrollee will be comparable to the number of one-on-one prenatal services per eligible enrollee.  Furthermore, research suggests that the provision of group prenatal services is associated with improved maternal outcomes.  Therefore, the OLS concludes that there may be additional log-term cost savings due to the decrease in medical costs associated with the care of mothers and infants.

      The OLS cannot predict the magnitude of the potential State savings that may result from this bill, but notes that the uptake of this benefit will be limited, at least initially, by the availability of accredited Center Healthcare Institute (CHI) sites to provide the services.  According to the CHI website, there are currently 12 CenteringPregnancy sites in the State; however only three have successfully gone through CHI's Accreditation process, which is a requirement for the provision of group prenatal services under the bill.