NCJ Number
159027
Journal
Medical Care Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1993) Pages: 155-174
Date Published
1993
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed the impact of improvements in maternal and child health care, as provided through a nurse home visitation program, on government savings, and compared the savings to the incremental cost of the program.
Abstract
Four hundred pregnant women were assigned to one of four treatment conditions, which all provided health and developmental screening for children at ages 1 and 2 years. Group 2 also received free transportation to regular prenatal and well-child visits; Group 3 received transportation and nurse home visitation during pregnancy; and Group 4 received transportation, and nurse home visitation during pregnancy and the child's first two years of life. The results showed that, by the time the children were 4 years old, the net cost of the program for the sample as a whole was $1,582, and for low-income families, the net cost was -$180. These savings were a result of treatment differences in government expenditures for welfare assistance, minus tax revenues due to maternal employment. This analysis did not take into account the health and social benefits of the program to individuals. 4 tables, 1 figure, 32 references, and 1 appendix