HR6238-119

What This Bill Does

This bill adds the IMPROVE Initiative to the Public Health Service Act. The Director of NIH must continue the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Initiative to improve maternal health outcomes. The initiative is aimed at reducing preventable causes of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing maternal-health disparities among populations with disproportionately high rates, and improving health for pregnant and postpartum women before, during, and after pregnancy.

NIH must use an integrated research approach to understand biological, behavioral, and other factors that affect maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, including by building an evidence base in specific regions of the United States. The initiative must target disparities by implementing and evaluating community-based interventions for disproportionately affected women and identifying risk factors and biological mechanisms associated with leading causes. NIH may award grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or other transactions. The bill authorizes $73.4 million for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031.

Who Benefits and How

Pregnant women benefit from research and community-based interventions focused on preventable maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity. Postpartum women benefit from NIH-supported work on health before, during, and after pregnancy. Communities with disproportionate maternal mortality benefit because the initiative targets health disparities and regional evidence. Maternal health researchers benefit from grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other transactions. NIH maternal health program staff benefit from explicit statutory authority and six years of authorized funding.

Who Bears the Burden and How

NIH program staff must administer the initiative, make awards, manage contracts or cooperative agreements, and track research objectives. Grant recipients must comply with NIH award requirements, evaluation standards, reporting rules, and financial controls. Community intervention partners must implement and evaluate projects for disproportionately affected women. Federal appropriators must decide whether to provide the authorized $73.4 million each year. Researchers must produce evidence on risk factors and biological mechanisms rather than only descriptive findings.

Key Provisions

• Requires NIH to continue the IMPROVE Initiative for maternal health outcomes.
• Directs research to reduce preventable maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity.
• Requires attention to maternal-health disparities among disproportionately affected populations.
• Supports community-based interventions and evaluation for affected women.
• Authorizes NIH grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other transactions.
• Authorizes $73.4 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2031.