Snap Fact #301 - The Obama Administration Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership to Low-Income, First Time Mothers!
Post date: Sep 10, 2012 12:6:22 PM
Snap Fact #301
The Obama Administration Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership to Low-Income, First Time Mothers!
On Dec. 23, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act that maintains a $350 million budget for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV). This program enables tribes, territories, and states to expand and support home visiting programs such as the Nurse-Family Partnership. This program expands the support to all low-income, first-time mothers while improving the health and well-being of children and family so that children born in poverty can have a better, brighter future and the community can reduce its share of the cost of health care. The MIECHV was a part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare. That act includes $1.5 billion in mandatory funding for MIECHV among a handful of other programs. Upon inking the program the President commented, “This program saves money. It raises healthy babies and creates better parents. It reduces childhood injuries and unintended pregnancies, increases father involvement and women’s employment, reduces use of welfare and food stamps, and increases children’s school readiness. And it produces more than $28,000 in net savings for every high-risk family enrolled in the program.”This win/win program is both a penny-wise and health wise. It is another, albeit less publicized, advantage to the country from ObamaCare. So if you believe that ObamaCare is a bad thing, think of the cost in human terms and financial terms if MIECHV is reversed by a President Romney as he has threatened.
Sources:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/12/obama-plan-funds-nurse-visits-to-new-moms/?page=all