Healthy Moms and Babies Act
Sponsored By: Senator Chuck Grassley
Introduced
Summary
Creates a voluntary Medicaid maternity health home option to coordinate care for pregnant and recently postpartum women. It would also require stronger maternal and perinatal reporting, push quality efforts to reduce low‑risk cesareans, expand social determinants of health data collection, and support workforce, telehealth, and community programs.
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- Families: Pregnant and recently postpartum Medicaid enrollees could opt into maternity health homes for coordinated care, mental health and substance use services, doula support, telehealth, and referrals to social supports.
- States and providers: States would publicly report maternal and perinatal quality measures and submit annual low‑risk cesarean reports beginning in 2027. The bill authorizes $50.0 million in planning grants to help launch maternity health homes.
- Programs and data: The bill would fund studies and demonstrations for remote physiologic monitoring and telehealth, create a National Advisory Committee on reducing maternal deaths, expand perinatal quality collaboratives to lower cesarean rates and increase VBAC, and authorize SDOH data collection with $40.0 million federal and $50.0 million state initial funding.
*This bill would increase federal spending by about $90.0 million in the initial period and authorize at least $1.0 million annually thereafter.*
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
7 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Grants for telehealth maternal care
If enacted, the HHS Secretary would award grants for 4-year State demonstrations to expand telehealth for Medicaid pregnant and postpartum women. A State could request up to $10 million for a project. Grants must be awarded within 18 months of enactment and may include waivers to let States run the projects. States would report who was served and project impacts.
Guidance and support for doulas and community care
If enacted, MACPAC must study State Medicaid coverage of doulas and community health workers and the Secretary must issue guidance to States on increasing access and payment best practices. The Secretary would also publish guidance within three years on evidence-based community maternal programs and set up a National Advisory Committee within 18 months to help craft guidance. These steps could make doula, community health worker, and community program supports more available under Medicaid if States follow the guidance.
Optional maternity health homes
If enacted, your State could offer a voluntary "maternity health home" for pregnant people and for one year after birth. The option would cover coordinated pregnancy, postpartum, mental health, and substance use services, plus care coordination and referrals. States must pick a payment method (for example, per-member-per-month or prospective payments for clinics) and report at least yearly. Planning grants could start October 1, 2027, and the option could begin April 1, 2028; up to $50 million is authorized for planning grants in total.
Collecting social needs data for Medicaid
If enacted, the HHS Secretary must report to Congress within two years on how to capture social determinants of health (SDOH) for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries and issue guidance to States. If current systems are insufficient, a follow-up action plan is due within six months. The bill authorizes $40 million for federal work and $50 million for State planning and implementation.
More reporting and grants to cut C‑sections
If enacted, States must publish annual reports on low-risk cesarean rates for Medicaid births starting January 1, 2027 and each year through January 1, 2037. The bill also funds perinatal quality collaboratives to lower primary cesarean rates and increase VBACs, and requires hospitals (starting with payments in FY2027) to report an NTSV C-section rate for quality programs. The changes aim to track and reduce unnecessary C-sections and racial disparities.
Stronger Medicaid payment audits
If enacted, CMS would run biennial PERM audits of each State Medicaid program starting in fiscal year 2027. Any State with an overall error rate above 15% must publish a CMS-approved plan to reduce errors, and States must submit mitigation plans by January 1, 2026. The change could reduce improper payments but may increase State administrative work.
Report on payment rules for transfers
If enacted and funds are available, the Secretary must report to Congress within 36 months on Medicaid payment methods for transferring pregnant women between facilities before, during, and after birth. The report would identify payment or rule barriers and consult the advisory committee. It is a study, not an immediate payment change.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Chuck Grassley
IA • R
Cosponsors
Maggie Hassan
NH • D
Sponsored 7/15/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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