Some companies are trying to help employers cope by improving employee education and care management.

Today, many self-funded health plans fail to offer any assistance other than basic coverage for maternity care, and many prenatal care programs focus on women who appear to have high-risk pregnancies, Coyle says.

But “we havent figured out how to identify who is truly high risk,” Coyle adds.

FutureHealths program emphasizes the use of low co-payments, t-shirts and other incentives to make sure that pregnant women get good prenatal care and detailed advice about what is and isnt normal.

Employers can also help by encouraging pregnant workers to take breaks and comply with doctors orders to rest at home, Coyle says.

FutureHealth and its competitors are also trying lower NICU costs.

One company, Paidos Health Management Services Inc., Deerfield, Ill., reports that it has a staff of neonatologists who advise hospitals on strategies for cutting costs without reducing the quality of care.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, April 7, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.