Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act

Directly affected individuals: pregnant people and birthing persons will gain guaranteed coverage of a wide range of prenatal, delivery, neonatal, perinatal, and postpartum services, with the significant benefit that those services must be provided without cost-sharing for applicable plan years. Newborns (infants) will benefit from guaranteed neonatal coverage under parents' or guardians' plans. Employers, plan sponsors, and health insurance issuers will need to change plan designs and remove deductibles/copays for the covered services; self-insured ERISA plans are also reached by parallel statutory language. Health care providers and hospitals will see administrative changes in billing and reimbursement practices and potentially higher utilization of covered services. Public health agencies and maternal health programs may see improvements in access and outcomes due to reduced financial barriers, especially for postpartum care extended to 1 year, which could improve maternal mental health and follow-up care. On the cost side, insurers and employers may face higher total spending for maternity-related care; that cost may be distributed across premiums, plan contributions, or offset by broader risk pool effects. Agencies will need to issue regulations and guidance to define covered services precisely, set enforcement expectations, and coordinate with existing ACA rules; some implementation details (for example, how specific behavioral health services are covered) will require regulatory clarification. The law does not explicitly change Medicaid/CHIP coverage rules, so effects on those programs depend on separate actions or existing program rules.