Recent Updates:
08/06 - Important reminders posted about the application process.
07/11 - Clarification document for Strong Start Amended FOA posted.
07/02 - Amended Funding Opportunity Announcement for Testing New Approaches to Prenatal Care and accompanying Fact Sheet now posted. New application deadline, August 9, 2012.
Overview
As part of the Strong Start initiative, CMS has released a funding opportunity announcement to test the effectiveness of specific enhanced prenatal care approaches to reduce the frequency of premature births in pregnant Medicaid or CHIP beneficiaries. Under this initiative, the CMS Innovation Center will award up to $41.4 million through a competitive process to providers, States, and managed care organizations to achieve better care, improved health, and lower costs for pregnant Medicaid or CHIP beneficiaries and their newborns.
The Strong Start funding opportunity is a four-year initiative to test and evaluate enhanced prenatal care interventions for women with Medicaid coverage who are at risk for having a preterm birth. The goal of the initiative is to determine if these approaches to care can impact the rate of preterm births, improve the health outcomes of pregnant women and newborns and decrease the anticipated total cost of medical care over the first year of life for children born to mothers in the Medicaid or CHIP programs.
Three Options
This initiative will test three evidence-based maternity care service approaches that enhance the current care delivery, reduce disparities, and address the medical, behavioral, and psychosocial factors that may be present during pregnancy and contribute to preterm-related poor birth outcomes.
The Innovation Center will offer cooperative agreement funding for three approaches:
- Enhanced Prenatal Care through Centering/Group Visits – group prenatal care that incorporates peer-to-peer interaction in a facilitated setting for health assessment, education, and additional psychosocial support.
- Enhanced Prenatal Care at Birth Centers – comprehensive prenatal care facilitated by teams of health professionals including peer counselors and doulas. Services include collaborative practice, intensive case management, counseling and psychosocial support.
- Enhanced Prenatal Care at Maternity Care Homes – enhanced prenatal care including psychosocial support, education, and health promotion in addition to traditional prenatal care. Services provided will expand access to care, improve care coordination and provide a broader array of health services.
Interested parties can propose to implement more than one approach, but only one option can occur at an individual practice.
Cooperative Agreement Structure
CMS will award, through a competitive process, a set of renewable one-year cooperative agreements to eligible applicants. The Strong Start program will operate for three years, and there will be up to an additional one-year beyond the last birth for data collection and submission. Up to $41.4 million will be available for this initiative. The number of awards will depend on the number of women that applicants expect to serve. The Innovation Center intends to fund the cost of prenatal care for 30,000 Medicaid women in each of the three options, or care for 90,000 women enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in total over three years.
Funds will be awarded with consideration to:
- Available funding
- Geographic diversity
- Quality of each application and the ability to meet the goals of the initiative
Additional Information
- Strong Start Fact Sheet
- Strong Start Amended FOA Clarification (PDF)
- State Medicaid Directors' contact information, provided by the National Association of Medicaid Directors
- State Health Department contact information (PDF), provided by the Association of State Territorial Health Officers
For more information, please see the Strong Start FAQ page or direct your questions to StrongStart@cms.hhs.gov.
