“A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve maternal health data collection processes and quality measures, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a new grant program under Section 317K(d)(9) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b-12(d)(9)) to promote representative community engagement in maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs) of states, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Urban Indian organizations. (As background, Section 317K authorizes HHS grants to support MMRCs, which investigate pregnancy-related and pregnancy-associated deaths to identify causes, risk factors, and prevention strategies.) Grants may be used (i) to recruit diverse community members (prioritizing race/ethnicity, location, maternal mortality experiences, and nonclinical backgrounds) and address participation barriers (e.g., training, transportation, compensation) using reserved funds under subsection (f); (ii) to conduct outreach and solicit input from communities, focusing on racial and ethnic minority women; and (iii) to issue public reports assessing MMRC review processes (with emphasis on sensitivity to minority populations) and the impact of grant funds on diversity and engagement. The section further directs HHS to provide technical assistance on best practices for diversity and engagement and authorizes $10 million for each of FY2027 through FY2031 (in addition to funds under subsection (f)). This section also reserves not less than $1.5 million of amounts appropriated under Section 317K(f) annually for grants to Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Urban Indian organizations.
This section expands the required activities of state maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs)—which investigate pregnancy-related deaths and severe morbidity to identify causes and prevention strategies—by adding three new review requirements, to the extent practicable: (1) reviewing cases of severe maternal morbidity according to the most up-to-date indicators; (2) reviewing deaths during pregnancy or up to one year postpartum from suicide, overdose, or other deaths from a mental health condition or substance use disorder attributed to or aggravated by pregnancy or childbirth complications; and (3) consulting with local community-based organizations representing pregnant and postpartum individuals from demographic groups with elevated rates of maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, maternal health disparities, or other adverse perinatal or childbirth outcomes to ensure consideration of nonclinical factors contributing to pregnancy-related deaths. (Thus, in addition to clinical reviews, committees must now address mental health, substance use, and social determinants of maternal outcomes.)
This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to consult with maternal health stakeholders to review existing maternal health data collection processes and quality measures and to make recommendations for improvements, including on topics specified in subsection (c). Stakeholder consultations must include pregnant and postpartum individuals (particularly from racial and ethnic minority groups), community-based organizations, maternity care providers, perinatal health workers, mental and behavioral health organizations, intimate partner violence organizations, institutions of higher education (particularly minority-serving institutions), maternal health care facilities, State and local public agencies (including maternal mortality review committees), and the National Quality Forum. Topics for review include (1) State and Tribal data collection and dissemination practices for maternal health, mortality, and severe morbidity (e.g., death certificate amendments, electronic health record data on demographics, hospital reporting, barriers to correlating outcomes with demographics, maternal mortality review committee composition and processes, consideration of social determinants and patient stories, actionable recommendations, legal barriers, separation of pregnancy-associated from pregnancy-related deaths, and related funding); (2) adequacy of such funding; and (3) maternity care quality measures (prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum), including their effectiveness, international comparisons, research measures, and implementation barriers.
This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with a 12-member entity representing each of the 12 Indian Health Service (IHS) service areas and selected from nominees by Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Urban Indian organizations, to enter into a contract not later than 90 days after enactment with an independent research organization or Tribal Epidemiology Center to conduct a study on maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and other adverse perinatal or childbirth outcomes among American Indian and Alaska Native individuals. The study must (1) identify unique causes; (2) incorporate personal stories from affected individuals; (3) distinguish maternity care settings, including IHS facilities, tribally operated programs, urban Indian health programs, and non-IHS facilities; (4) review IHS coordination with other HHS social services programs (excluding Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP); (5) assess data collection, maternal mental health conditions, substance use disorders, social determinants of health, historical mistreatment, IHS funding impacts, and cultural appropriateness of care; and (6) recommend practices to reduce misclassification of American Indian and Alaska Native individuals and improve outcomes. This section requires a report to Congress with policy recommendations not later than 36 months after enactment and authorizes $2 million for each of FY2027 through FY2029.
This section establishes a grant program under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services awards grants to research centers, health professions schools and programs, and other entities at minority-serving institutions (i.e., part B institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribal Colleges or Universities, Alaska Native- and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, Predominantly Black Institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, or Native American-serving nontribal institutions, as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)) to study maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and other adverse maternal health outcomes among pregnant and postpartum individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups. Such research may (1) develop processes for listening to stories from affected individuals and perinatal health workers; (2) assess low maternal mortality rates among Hispanic individuals, including potential racial misclassification and data issues; (3) assess differences in adverse outcomes among Hispanic subgroups, including prenatal care access; and (4) provide lactation education to promote diversity among breastfeeding and lactation experts. The section authorizes $10 million for each of FY2027 through FY2031, permits up to 10% of funds for outreach, technical assistance, and capacity building at such institutions, and requires periodic grantee reports to the Secretary and annual reports to Congress beginning one year after the first grant is awarded.
This section establishes definitions for purposes of the Act, including: (1) maternity care provider, meaning a physician, physician assistant, qualified midwife, advanced practice registered nurse, accredited doula, or certified lactation consultant focused on maternal or perinatal health; (2) perinatal health worker, meaning a nonclinical worker such as a 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 focused on maternal or perinatal health; (3) postpartum, meaning the one-year period beginning on the last day of pregnancy; (4) pregnancy-associated death, meaning the death of a pregnant or postpartum individual, by any cause, during pregnancy or within one year following pregnancy; (5) pregnancy-related death, meaning the death of a pregnant or postpartum individual during pregnancy or within one year following pregnancy from a pregnancy complication, chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or aggravation of an unrelated condition by pregnancy; (6) racial and ethnic minority group, having the meaning given in 42 U.S.C. 300u-6(g)(1); (7) severe maternal morbidity, meaning 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 consequences; and (8) social determinants of maternal health, meaning nonclinical factors impacting maternal health outcomes.