Sponsors (26)
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to evaluate, develop, and expand the use of technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity building models to improve maternal health outcomes, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 15, 2026 by Nikema Williams · Last progress April 15, 2026
The bill expands digital maternal-health services, training, and surveillance — improving access and data for underserved pregnant and postpartum people — but limited funding, infrastructure and broadband gaps, upfront costs, privacy risks, and potential short-term pilots risk uneven, delayed, or unsustained benefits.
Medicaid-enrolled pregnant and postpartum people — especially in high-need, rural, and racial/ethnic minority communities — gain telehealth screening and remote monitoring from enrollment through one year postpartum, improving access, earlier detection of complications, and likely reducing hospital visits.
Maternal health providers and students in underserved areas receive funded training and technical assistance (on safety, bias, mental health, substance use, and remote monitoring) and expanded telehealth infrastructure, strengthening clinical skills and continuity of care.
Public health monitoring improves by counting maternal deaths through one year postpartum and explicitly including suicide, overdose, and substance use–related deaths, enabling better tracking and targeted prevention/programming.
States, providers, and underfunded Medicaid programs face substantial upfront costs to buy platforms, devices, broadband, and provide training, which could slow adoption and limit who benefits.
Rural, low-income, and low‑tech patients risk being left behind because broadband and device gaps mean the telehealth and monitoring tools will not be equitably accessible.
Expansion of remote monitoring and use of AI raises privacy and data‑security risks for sensitive maternal health information if safeguards and data‑sharing rules are not strong and implemented consistently.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes CMMI Medicaid telehealth models, grants, and a 5-year demonstration to expand digital maternal-health tools, training, evaluation, and a National Academies study on bias and device use.
Creates new federal activities to expand use of telehealth and digital monitoring tools for pregnancy and the year after pregnancy, and to build provider training and capacity to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity. It directs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test Medicaid-focused telehealth models, authorizes grant programs and a single larger demonstration grant to expand digital maternal health tools in high-need areas, requires a National Academies study on technology and bias in maternity care, and defines key maternal health terms. The bill funds a 5-year demonstration ($6 million/year authorized FY2027–FY2031), establishes competitive grants for technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity building, mandates evaluation and reporting, and sets timelines for implementation (agreements/studies within 60 days to 1 year; some authorities take effect one year after enactment).