H.R. 8008 — Social Determinants for Moms Act

This section establishes a Task Force, convened by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), to develop strategies and coordinate efforts among federal agencies and stakeholders to eliminate preventable maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and maternal health disparities, including clinical and nonclinical causes. Ex officio members include the HHS Secretary (or designee), Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Agriculture, and Labor (or designees), Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (or designee), and designees from specified HHS offices and programs (Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Indian Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Tribal Health Research Office, Health Resources and Services Administration, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. The HHS Secretary may appoint additional members, including patient representatives (those with severe maternal morbidity or family members of pregnancy-related deaths), leaders of community-based organizations focused on maternal health disparities (prioritizing those from demographic groups with elevated rates), Indian health system and Tribal Epidemiology Center leaders, perinatal health workers, geographically and professionally diverse maternity care providers, and other maternal health experts. The HHS Secretary selects the chair from Task Force members. The Task Force may address topics such as barriers to prenatal and postpartum care and social determinants of health (e.g., housing, food deserts, environmental risks, childcare, domestic violence). Not later than two years after enactment and annually thereafter, the Task Force must submit to Congress and publicly post on the HHS website a report describing its coordination efforts, actions by ex officio members, and recommendations on federal funding amounts.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible entities—such as community-based organizations, Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations, Urban Indian organizations, public health departments, nonprofits working with such entities, or consortia including at least one such entity—to address social determinants of maternal health (i.e., nonclinical factors such as housing, transportation, nutrition, employment, environmental conditions, intimate partner violence, and other factors impacting maternal health outcomes) in order to eliminate maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and maternal health disparities. The Secretary must prioritize applications from areas with high rates of such poor outcomes and high poverty rates; provide technical assistance to grantees for sustaining programs post-grant; require grantees to submit annual reports with disaggregated data on activities and effects (by race, ethnicity, etc.) beginning one year after receiving the initial grant; and submit a summary report with recommendations to Congress by the end of FY2031. This section authorizes $100 million for each of FY2027 through 2031.

This section defines seven terms for purposes of the Act: (1) maternal mortality, as a death occurring during or within one year after pregnancy caused by pregnancy-related or childbirth complications, including suicide, overdose, or other deaths resulting from a mental health or substance use disorder attributed to or aggravated by such complications; (2) maternity care provider, as a physician, physician assistant, midwife meeting International Confederation of Midwives standards, advanced practice registered nurse, state-accredited doula eligible for Medicaid reimbursement, or International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners-certified lactation consultant with a focus on maternal or perinatal health; (3) perinatal health worker, as a nonclinical worker focused on maternal or perinatal health (e.g., doula, community health worker, peer supporter, lactation educator or counselor, nutritionist or dietitian, childbirth educator, social worker, home visitor, patient navigator or coordinator, or language interpreter); (4) postpartum and postpartum period, as the one-year period beginning on the last day of pregnancy; (5) pregnancy-related death, as the death of a pregnant or postpartum individual occurring during pregnancy or within one year after, from a pregnancy complication, chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or aggravation of an unrelated condition by pregnancy's physiologic effects; (6) severe maternal morbidity, as a health condition (including mental health conditions and substance use disorders) attributed to or aggravated by pregnancy or childbirth resulting in significant short- or long-term health consequences; and (7) social determinants of maternal health, as nonclinical factors impacting maternal health outcomes.