H.R. 2730 — Military Moms Act

This section defines terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) "covered beneficiary," "dependent," and "TRICARE program" (as defined in 10 U.S.C. §1072, which covers health care eligibility for members and former members of the uniformed services and their dependents); (2) "maternal health" (i.e., care during labor, birthing, prenatal care, and postpartum care); (3) "maternity care desert" (i.e., a county lacking a hospital or birth center offering obstetric care or an obstetric provider); (4) "prenatal care" (i.e., medical care to maintain and improve fetal and maternal health during pregnancy); and (5) "Secretary" (i.e., the Secretary of Defense).

This section directs the Secretary of Defense, not later than one year after enactment, to (1) update the list of qualifying life events under the TRICARE program (i.e., the Department of Defense health care program serving approximately 9.6 million active duty service members, retirees, and families) to include pregnancy and loss of pregnancy (defined as miscarriage or stillbirth); and (2) issue guidance to covered beneficiaries on required documentation for enrollment changes due to such events (e.g., written confirmation from a medical provider). The section prohibits treating abortion—defined as intentionally killing a known unborn child or prematurely terminating a known pregnancy except to increase live birth probability, remove a dead unborn child, or treat an ectopic pregnancy—as a qualifying life event.

This section directs the Secretary of Defense to submit to the armed services and appropriations committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, not later than two years after enactment, a report on access to maternal health care within the military health system (i.e., TRICARE program and military medical treatment facilities) for covered beneficiaries during the preceding two-year period. The report must address, separately for (1) military medical treatment facilities and (2) TRICARE network providers not located at or affiliated with such facilities, the availability of maternal health care; staffing shortages in obstetrician-gynecologists, certified nurse midwives, and labor and delivery nurses; specific access challenges; timeliness including wait and travel times; patient satisfaction tracking; processes and barriers to continuity of prenatal and postpartum care during permanent changes of station; for TRICARE providers, the number of dependents using such care; military-specific health challenges and tracking; for the 10-year period preceding submission, annual Department of Defense expenditures on maternal health care and covered beneficiaries' out-of-pocket costs; identification of Department facilities in maternity care deserts; and recommendations and legislative proposals to address staffing shortages, improve service delivery and patient experience, enhance care continuity during permanent changes of station, and—for TRICARE providers—expand contractor networks for maternal health providers.

This section directs the Secretary of Defense, not later than one year after enactment, to publish on the Military OneSource program's public website (i.e., DoD program offering support resources to service members, families, and other covered beneficiaries) a dedicated webpage with a comprehensive guide to maternal health and pregnancy resources for covered beneficiaries—excluding any abortion information—which covers (1) TRICARE and military treatment facility maternal health services; (2) mental health, pregnancy, prepartum, and postpartum counseling (including reportable vs. non-reportable services for service members); (3) prenatal development and care; (4) installation-area and TRICARE-covered maternal health organizations and resources; (5) pregnancy-related changes, postnatal care, and post-birth instructions; (6) financial assistance for pregnancy needs; (7) best practices for pregnancy care continuity during permanent change of station; and (8) service member-specific information on leave, career restrictions, fitness requirements, and uniforms. It further (1) requires training for Military OneSource military and family life counselors on non-medical pregnancy needs of covered beneficiaries; (2) requires notification to the Military OneSource program head upon a covered beneficiary's pregnancy report to the Secretary; and (3) requires submission to Congress, not later than 540 days after enactment, of a plan to disseminate the guide to program beneficiaries.