Sponsors (19)
Introduced June 12, 2025 by Ronald Lee Wyden · Last progress June 12, 2025
The bill expands and funds maternity coverage, higher Medicaid maternity payments, targeted payments to preserve local obstetric services, and federal surge capacity—improving access and transparency for pregnant and postpartum people while increasing federal/state spending and administrative burdens that could strain small hospitals and require difficult budget tradeoffs.
Pregnant and postpartum Medicaid/CHIP enrollees will get continuous full coverage through 12 months postpartum, increasing access to care during a high‑risk period.
Low‑volume and rural obstetric hospitals will receive annual anchor payments and revenue floors (large per‑delivery and standby amounts), helping preserve local maternity services and keep births available closer to home.
Medicaid reimbursement rates for maternity, labor, and delivery will be raised (minimums set at 150% of Medicare in FY2027 and cost‑informed thereafter), giving hospitals better payment for maternity care and improving provider financial stability.
Federal and State Medicaid spending will increase (enhanced payments, anchor payments, FMAP incentives and Corps funding), raising budgetary pressures and potentially forcing tradeoffs for other programs or higher future taxpayer costs.
States, hospitals, and providers will face new administrative, reporting, and data‑collection requirements (initial cost studies, recurring surveys, quality reporting, community analyses), increasing operational burden and costs.
Added compliance and reporting costs—especially for small or rural hospitals—could worsen financial strain and in some cases accelerate closures instead of preventing them.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Requires state cost studies of maternity services, mandates 12-month full Medicaid/CHIP postpartum coverage, authorizes Commissioned Corps maternal deployments, and requires hospital notice/data on obstetric unit closures.
Requires states to study and report the costs of providing maternity, labor, and delivery services at hospitals and to send results to HHS. Makes 12-month, full-benefit Medicaid and CHIP postpartum coverage mandatory rather than optional, authorizes limited Commissioned Corps deployments to respond to urgent maternal care needs after closures or workforce losses, and forces hospitals to give advance public notice and detailed data when obstetric units close or when reporting labor-and-delivery costs. Together, the changes aim to improve monitoring of obstetric service costs and closures, expand postpartum health coverage, and allow federal personnel support during serious local maternal-care disruptions, while adding new reporting and planning requirements for hospitals and states.