“A bill to support the use of technology in maternal health care, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section requires the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMI) to test a new payment and service delivery model focused on Medicaid (Title XIX) that provides for adoption and use of telehealth tools to screen, monitor, and manage common health complications for individuals receiving medical assistance during pregnancy and for up to one year postpartum. (As background, the CMI tests innovative models to reduce Medicare and Medicaid expenditures while preserving or enhancing quality of care.) The requirement takes effect one year after enactment.
This section establishes a new grant program under the Public Health Service Act (adding section 330Q) directing the Secretary of HHS, beginning no later than one year after enactment, to award one five-year grant to an eligible entity to evaluate, develop, and expand technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity building models (i.e., telementoring programs such as Project ECHO) to improve maternal health outcomes in (1) health professional shortage areas; (2) areas with high rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity; (3) rural and underserved areas; (4) areas with significant maternal health disparities; and (5) for medically underserved populations and American Indians and Alaska Natives, including Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Urban Indian organizations. Grant recipients must use funds for training maternal health care providers on safety and quality improvement, implicit bias, maternal mental health and substance use disorders, public health emergency maternity care, social determinants of health screening, and remote patient monitoring for pregnancy complications; for evaluating model impacts on access, quality, health outcomes, and patient experience; for developing best practice measures; and for studying effects on patients and providers. Permissible uses include technology for distance learning, technical support, secure health information exchange, and provider support; applications must assure data collection on maternal outcomes, access, quality, and provider retention. The Secretary must provide technical assistance, coordinate broadband access, develop a research and evaluation plan, and submit a report to Congress four years after enactment; $6 million is authorized annually for FY2026 through FY2030.
This section establishes a grant program to be administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), beginning one year after enactment, under which HHS may award not more than one five-year grant to an eligible entity to reduce maternal health disparities by increasing access to digital tools related to maternal health care, including provider-facing technologies such as early warning systems and clinical decision support mechanisms. In awarding the grant, HHS must prioritize eligible entities in areas with elevated rates of maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, maternal health disparities, or adverse perinatal or childbirth outcomes; in a health professional shortage area (HPSA, i.e., an urban or rural area, population group, or public/nonprofit medical facility lacking sufficient health professionals, as designated under section 332 of the Public Health Service Act); in a rural or underserved area; or that promote technology addressing maternal health disparities. HHS must provide technical assistance to the grantee on developing, using, evaluating, and sustaining such digital tools and, four years after enactment, submit to Congress a report evaluating grant effectiveness—particularly for racial and ethnic minority groups—and making recommendations on topics including technology privacy safeguards, maternal telehealth reimbursement and barriers, consumer digital tools, data sharing with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and telehealth lessons from the COVID-19 public health emergency. The section authorizes $6 million for each of FY2026 through FY2030.
This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), not later than 60 days after enactment, to seek an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for a study on the use of technology and patient monitoring devices in maternity care. The study must address (1) the use of innovative technology, including artificial intelligence, in maternal health care and its effects on racial or ethnic biases; (2) the use of patient monitoring devices, including pulse oximeters, and their effects on such biases; (3) best practices to reduce and prevent racial or ethnic biases in their use; (4) best practices for their use among pregnant and postpartum individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups; and (5) best practices for privacy and security safeguards. The National Academies must submit a report on the study to Congress not later than 24 months after enactment.