Summary
Works to stop mothers from dying from preventable causes during and after pregnancy and to fix health differences among different groups.
What problem does this solve?
Many mothers in the U.S. die from causes that could be prevented, and these problems affect minority groups much more often. This bill creates and funds many different programs to improve health care for mothers, study the problem, and fix the underlying issues causing these deaths.
Who does this affect?
- Pregnant and postpartum individuals
- Maternity care providers
- Incarcerated individuals, veterans, and members of racial and ethnic minority groups
What does this bill do?
Extends WIC benefits
Allows new mothers to receive benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) for up to 24 months after birth, instead of the previous six months or one year.
Reduces funding for states that shackle pregnant inmates
Decreases federal justice grants by 25 percent for states that do not have laws preventing the use of restraints on pregnant individuals in prison.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 102
Header:
Sustained funding to address social determinants of maternal health
Funds programs for social factors in maternal health
Creates grants for community organizations to address non-medical factors that affect mothers' health, such as housing, transportation, nutrition, and domestic violence.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 301
Header:
Sustained funding for community-based organizations to advance maternal health equity
Funds community groups to improve health equity
Provides grants to community-based organizations to create or expand programs that improve maternal health outcomes, with a focus on groups that have the highest rates of death and illness.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 101
Header:
Task force to address the United States maternal health crisis
Creates a task force on the maternal health crisis
Establishes a federal task force with members from many government agencies to create a national strategy to eliminate preventable maternal deaths and health disparities.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 302
Header:
Respectful maternity care training for all employees in maternity care settings
Funds training to reduce bias in maternity care
Awards grants for programs to train all employees in maternity care settings, from doctors to front desk staff, on how to prevent bias, racism, and discrimination.
Grows and diversifies the perinatal workforce
Provides grants to schools and programs to increase the number of midwives, doulas, and other perinatal health workers, with a focus on recruiting students from diverse backgrounds.
Addresses maternal mental health
Establishes a grant program to support programs that address maternal mental health conditions and substance use disorders, especially for groups with poor health outcomes.
Improves care for incarcerated mothers
Creates model programs in federal, state, and local prisons to improve maternal health care for pregnant and postpartum individuals.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 1202
Header:
Grant program to protect vulnerable mothers and babies from climate change risks
Protects mothers and babies from climate change
Creates a grant program to help protect pregnant individuals and babies from risks linked to climate change, such as extreme heat and air pollution.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 401
Header:
Support for maternity health care and coordination programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Supports maternity care for veterans
Authorizes $15 million per year for Department of Veterans Affairs programs related to maternity care coordination.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 901
Header:
Integrated telehealth models in maternity care services
Expands telehealth for maternity care
Adds telehealth tools for screening, monitoring, and managing pregnancy complications to the list of models that can be tested by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 1102
Header:
Funding for data collection, surveillance, and research on maternal health outcomes during public health emergencies
Improves data collection during public health emergencies
Funds data collection, surveillance, and research on how public health emergencies affect maternal health, with a focus on collecting data broken down by race and ethnicity.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 1001
Header:
Perinatal Care Alternative Payment Model Demonstration Project
Tests new payment models for maternity care
Creates a demonstration project for states to test new ways of paying for maternity care under Medicaid and CHIP to improve health outcomes.
What is the real world impact?
•
Addresses a complex national health crisis
Recognizes that high maternal death rates, especially among minority women, are caused by many connected problems. The bill uses a wide-ranging strategy to fix issues in health care, social support, data collection, and environmental factors all at once.
When does this start?
This bill sets many different start dates and deadlines for its various programs, studies, and reports.
Restriction on shackling pregnant inmates
States receiving certain federal justice grants will face a 25% funding cut if they don't have laws restricting the shackling of pregnant inmates, starting 6 months after the bill becomes law.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 303(a)
Header:
Study on reducing and preventing bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity care settings
Study on bias in maternity care
Requires an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study bias in maternity care settings within 90 days of enactment.
Respectful maternity care compliance program
The Secretary of Health and Human Services must establish processes for the respectful maternity care compliance program within 180 days of enactment.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 1202(a)
Header:
Grant program to protect vulnerable mothers and babies from climate change risks
Climate change grant program
A grant program to protect mothers and babies from climate change risks must be established within 180 days of enactment.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 401(a)
Header:
Support for maternity health care and coordination programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Report on veterans' maternal health
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs must submit the first annual report on maternal health outcomes for veterans within one year of enactment.
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 101(f)
Header:
Task force to address the United States maternal health crisis
First task force report
The task force created to address the maternal health crisis must submit its first report to Congress within two years of enactment.