The United States continues to grapple with the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality among developed nations, with stark racial disparities evident in these outcomes. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sheds light on the Healthy Start program, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) initiative aimed at addressing these critical issues.
Healthy Start, which received $131 million in appropriations for fiscal year 2022, focuses on three primary goals: reducing infant mortality, improving maternal health, and reducing racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes. The program served nearly 85,000 participants in 2022, with more than half being Black or African American.
The GAO report highlights that while HHS is making efforts to assess progress towards Healthy Start’s goals, there are areas for improvement. The department plans to begin stratifying performance data by race and ethnicity in 2024 to better evaluate progress in reducing disparities. However, the GAO identified issues with the clarity and reliability of some performance measures.
To address these concerns, the GAO recommends that HHS implement documented processes to review Healthy Start performance measures and coordinate the selection of measures across related programs. These steps could enhance HHS’s ability to gather the best evidence as they work towards improving health outcomes for mothers and infants, particularly in communities of color.
As the Healthy Start program continues its mission, the implementation of these recommendations could play a crucial role in effectively addressing the persistent racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and infant health across the United States.
See “Maternal and Infant Health:HHS Should Strengthen Processes for Measuring Program Performance” (March 27, 2024)
