Sponsors (29)
The legislation directs substantial federal resources and targeted programs to improve maternal health, equity, and data-driven interventions—especially for low-income, rural, and minority communities—while increasing taxpayer costs and generating significant administrative, privacy, and implementation challenges that could limit how widely and quickly benefits reach those who need them most.
Low-income postpartum parents (WIC participants) will remain eligible for WIC and breastfeeding supports for up to 24 months after birth, increasing food, nutrition, and breastfeeding counseling access during the first two years postpartum.
Medicaid enrollees who are pregnant or within one year postpartum will gain broader, coordinated maternity care options — including coverage/recognition of doulas and lactation consultants, expanded telehealth screening and monitoring, and piloted coordinated/alternative payment and birth-site models — improving access to care and continuity for low-income and rural birthing people.
Communities with high maternal mortality and underserved populations will receive targeted grants, technical assistance, and prioritized federal funding to address social determinants (housing, nutrition, transportation), expand local programs, and strengthen Tribal and community-led maternal health efforts.
Taxpayers will face substantial new federal spending across many programs (research, grant programs, workforce scholarships, surveillance, WIC extension, VA and climate programs), increasing budgetary pressure and potential demands for offsets.
States, providers, hospitals, MMRCs, and small community organizations will incur new administrative, reporting, and compliance burdens (data collection, public reporting, matching requirements) that could divert staff time and resources from clinical care or community services.
Expanded data collection, disaggregated public reporting, and increased use of monitoring technologies raise privacy, security, and re‑identification risks for pregnant and postpartum individuals if safeguards and deidentification are insufficient.
Based on analysis of 17 sections of legislative text.
Creates federal maternal health Task Force; extends WIC postpartum/breastfeeding coverage to 24 months; funds research, grants, telehealth, Medicaid demonstrations, VA and corrections programs; requires data/reporting.
Official title: End preventable maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and maternal health disparities in the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced August 6, 2026 by Cory Anthony Booker · Last progress August 6, 2026
Creates a broad federal initiative to reduce preventable maternal deaths, severe maternal morbidity, and disparities in maternal and perinatal outcomes. The bill requires HHS to convene a maternal health Task Force, expands eligibility and services under WIC, creates multiple grant programs for community organizations, mental-health and telehealth supports, funds maternal health research, directs VA and Bureau of Prisons activities for pregnant and postpartum people, and establishes Medicaid/CHIP payment model demonstrations and pandemic-era maternal surveillance and response activities. It sets timelines for guidance, studies, and grant competitions, authorizes multi-year research and program funding, and requires data collection, disaggregated reporting, and public reporting to improve care quality and equity for demographic groups with elevated maternal risk (including tribal and rural populations). Several provisions take effect within months to a year and some funding authorizations run through FY2027–FY2032 or specified FY ranges.