Rx Kids begins to demonstrate return on social investment   

By Dennis Archambault

Often an idea is sparked by persistent observation: Low-income pregnant women tend to have poorer maternal health outcomes than society at large. What if we provide direct, unconditional financial support during this period? Will it improve the situation? In a word, yes.

Dr. Mona Hanna, the pediatrician who acted on the observation that her patients’ families were drinking tainted water in Flint, Michigan, realized that family income drops significantly during pregnancy for already low-income households – a condition that persists through the first year of a child’s life, known to be the most critical for child development and long term thrival. Bridging the success of the expanded Child Tax Credit, which reduced child poverty to its lowest level in recorded history, Dr. Mona Hanna theorized that good things would happen if families were given a one-year, no-strings-attached grant. The result was Rx Kids.

But does it bring measurable success? In a word, again, yes. An early study of the program, which is now offered in Flint, Kalamazoo, and Pontiac, found that Rx Kids resulted in a decrease in preterm birth rate, a drop in the proportion of infants born with low birthrate, and fewer admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit. From a parental perspective, smoking was reduced. According to the researchers, “With significant reductions in the rates of preterm birth and low birthweight, the treatment of perinatal poverty with a place-based intervention as replicable and scalable as Rx Kids has important implications for infants and society. These findings suggest that the economic hardship of the perinatal period, starting in utero, is pathogenic and addressable.”

The social influences on health continue to be a profound factor for all ages, particularly in primary care. If this program isn’t justified simply on its health merit, consider its fiscal value. The Rx Kids study didn’t do a financial cost analysis, but for a $1,500 investment per participant household, society reaps a significant short-term and projected long-term savings in reduced hospital costs and the long-term healthy development of the child.

Dennis Archambault is vice president of Public Affairs for Authority Health.