Statistics on children, youth and families in Maine from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Maine Children's Alliance
Births and MaineCare status
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Why This Indicator Matters
Medicaid plays an important role in providing adequate prenatal care. Medicaid Role in Maternal Health Babies born when the birthing parent has health insurance have better health than infants whose mothers did not have insurance, as they are likely to not receive timely prenatal care if they lack health insurance. Maine offers MaineCare for income-eligible pregnant women as soon as they know they are pregnant and for 12 months after the birth.
What the data shows
Nationally, in 2018, Medicaid paid for 43% of births. Maine's rate in 2019 was similar at 38%. For the latest year with Maine data, in calendar year 2022, 37% of births were covered by MaineCare. There were 12,081 births in the state and 4,456 births were covered by MaineCare.
There was considerable variation by county. In the southern coastal counties of York, Cumberland and Sagadahoc, the rates of births with MaineCare were 28%, 25% and 21% respectively. In Maine's rural counties of Washington, Piscataquis and Somerset, over half the births were insured by MaineCare, at 60%, 58% and 51% respectively.
Definition and Source
PROVIDER
Definition
The numerator is the number of babies born with MaineCare as the type of insurance used and the denominator is the total number of births in a calendar year in Maine.
Data Source
Notes
Last Updated