Supporting Healthy Pregnancy Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill adds a new state-plan requirement to section 454 of the Social Security Act. State child-support programs would have to establish and enforce an obligation requiring a biological father to pay not less than 50 percent of reasonable out-of-pocket medical expenses tied to pregnancy and delivery when the mother requests that support. Covered costs include health insurance premiums, deductibles, cost sharing, similar charges, and related out-of-pocket expenses. The bill expressly excludes abortion expenses from the definition and creates an effective date with extra time for states that need legislation to update their IV-D plans.
Who Benefits and How
Pregnant mothers receive access to child-support enforcement for half of qualifying pregnancy and delivery out-of-pocket costs. State child-support agencies gain a clear federal rule for when pregnancy-related medical support must be available, reducing ambiguity over IV-D medical-cost enforcement.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Biological fathers must pay at least half of qualifying medical costs when support is requested. State IV-D child-support agencies are required to update plans, enforcement workflows, and possibly state statutes. HHS must review state-plan compliance and apply the delayed effective date for states needing legislation.
Key Provisions
- Adds a State IV-D child-support plan requirement covering pregnancy and delivery medical-cost obligations.
- Requires biological fathers to pay not less than 50 percent of reasonable out-of-pocket pregnancy and delivery expenses when the mother requests support.
- Bars abortion expenses from being treated as covered medical expenses for this new support obligation.
- Provides a January 1 effective date after enactment and extends compliance time for states that require legislation.
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
Amends Social Security Act title IV-D so state child-support plans must let mothers request enforcement of a biological fathers obligation to pay at least half of reasonable out-of-pocket pregnancy and delivery medical costs, excluding abortion expenses.
Key Policy Areas
Social Services, Healthcare
Primary Purpose
Amends Social Security Act title IV-D so state child-support plans must let mothers request enforcement of a biological fathers obligation to pay at least half of reasonable out-of-pocket pregnancy and delivery medical costs, excluding abortion expenses.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Pregnant mothers with pregnancy medical costs
- State child-support agencies
Identified Costs
- Biological fathers subject to support orders
- State IV-D child-support agencies
- Department of Health and Human Services
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Mrs. Hinson introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Biological fathers subject to pregnancy medical support, Pregnant mothers with qualifying medical costs
Positive-direction: Pregnant mothers with qualifying medical costs
Negative-direction: Biological fathers subject to pregnancy medical support
Department of Health and Human Services state-plan reviewers
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