Sponsors (5)
The bill could preserve Healthy Start eligibility if it only clarifies appropriations language, but amending or removing the prior appropriation directive risks cutting funding and reducing maternal and infant care in high-need communities in exchange for potential federal budget savings.
Pregnant people and infants served by Healthy Start would keep eligibility for program services if the bill clarifies existing appropriations language rather than removing the funding directive.
Pregnant people and infants could lose Healthy Start program funding and eligibility if the bill removes the prior appropriation directive, reducing access to maternal and infant supports.
Hospitals and community providers in high-need areas could receive less federal support for maternal and infant services, reducing available care and capacity where it's most needed.
Federal spending could be reduced, which may lower program capacity and services but would also reduce taxpayer costs, creating a trade-off between budget savings and service availability.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Removes the substantive appropriation language in 42 U.S.C. §254c–8(e)(1) for the Healthy Start Initiative, leaving only the word "appropriated."
Official title: Amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Healthy Start Initiative.
Introduced February 5, 2026 by Roger Wayne Marshall · Last progress February 5, 2026
Deletes the existing appropriation language for the Healthy Start Initiative in federal law by replacing the text that followed the word “appropriated” with only the single word “appropriated,” effectively removing whatever funding directive or specific appropriation amount or mechanism previously appeared. The change updates 42 U.S.C. § 254c–8(e)(1) and otherwise leaves the statute intact. The bill does not itself appropriate funds, set new funding levels, or create new duties; it only alters the statutory wording that governs how Healthy Start is funded, which could affect future funding authority and implementation depending on how agencies and appropriators respond.