Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act strengthens emergency obstetric care in rural facilities that lack dedicated obstetric units. It adds an evidence-based training program for practitioners to prepare for, identify, stabilize, and safely transfer patients experiencing labor, delivery, hemorrhage, severe hypertension, cardiac conditions, perinatal mental health conditions, substance use, sepsis, and other pregnancy or postpartum emergencies. It creates grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to integrate obstetric readiness training into rural health settings, purchase equipment, build workforce capacity, hire personnel, establish transfer protocols, and train non-obstetric health professionals. It also creates HRSA-supported statewide or regional maternal telehealth networks for urgent support to rural facilities and requires HHS to study maternity ward closures, patient transport patterns, and regional partnership models.
Who Benefits and How
Pregnant patients in rural areas benefit because local facilities receive training, equipment, and telehealth support for obstetric emergencies. Rural hospitals without obstetric units benefit from grant funding for readiness equipment, transfer protocols, workforce capacity, and personnel. Non-obstetric rural clinicians benefit from training on stabilization and transfer of labor, hemorrhage, hypertension, sepsis, and related emergencies. States, Indian Tribes, and Tribal organizations benefit from grants to build regional maternal telehealth access programs.
Who Bears the Burden and How
HHS and HRSA must administer new grants, teleconsultation awards, training standards, and the rural obstetric unit study. CMS must consult on maternal telehealth access programs and rural urgent-care support. Grant recipients must integrate training, buy equipment, establish protocols, and manage reporting requirements. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of new rural obstetric readiness grants, telehealth pilots, and studies.
Key Provisions
- Adds evidence-based emergency obstetric training for rural facilities without dedicated obstetric units.
- Establishes grants for equipment, workforce capacity, training, personnel, transfer protocols, and network engagement.
- Creates HRSA-supported rural maternal health teleconsultation pilot grants.
- Requires HHS to study maternity ward closures, patient transport patterns, and regional partnership models.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Builds rural obstetric emergency readiness through training, equipment grants, teleconsultation networks, workforce support, transfer protocols, and a rural obstetric unit study.
Key Policy Areas
Health Care, Maternal Health, Rural Health
Primary Purpose
Builds rural obstetric emergency readiness through training, equipment grants, teleconsultation networks, workforce support, transfer protocols, and a rural obstetric unit study.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Pregnant patients in rural areas
- Rural hospitals
- Non-obstetric rural clinicians
- Indian Tribes
Identified Costs
- HHS and HRSA
- CMS
- Grant recipients
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Kelly of Illinois (for herself, Mrs. Kim, Ms. Schrier, …
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Pregnant patients in rural areas, Rural hospitals
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology