Maryland's Global Budget Revenue Program Impact on Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Admissions and Infant Mortality

Background: In 2014, Maryland implemented the Global Budget Revenue (GBR) program to reduce unnecessary hospital utilization and contain spending. Little is known about its impact on pediatric health outcomes and high-cost services that are primarily financed by payers other than Medicare. Objective: The aim was to examine the impact of the GBR program on neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission and infant mortality. Research Design: We conducted a difference-in-differences analysis comparing changes of NICU admissions and infant mortality in Maryland with changes in 20 comparison states (including DC), before and after implementation of the GBR program. Effects were estimated for all infants and for risk groups defined by birthweight and gestation. Subjects: A total of 11,965,997 newborns in Maryland and the comparison states was identified using US birth certificate data from 2011 to 2017. Measures: NICU admissions, the infant mortality rate, and the neonatal mortality rate. Results: The GBR program was associated with a 1.26 percentage points (-16.8%, P=0.03) decline in NICU admissions over three full years of implementation. Reductions were driven by fewer admissions among moderately low to normal birthweight (1500-3999 g) and moderately preterm to term (32-41 wk) infants. The effects for very-low birthweight and very preterm infants were small and not statistically precise. There was no significant change in infant or neonatal mortality rates. Conclusions: Maryland's hospitals reacted to the GBR program by reducing NICU services for infants that did not have clear observed clinical need. Our results suggest that GBR constrained high-cost services, without adversely affecting infant mortality.