Healthy Moms and Babies Act
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Healthy Moms and Babies Act reforms Medicaid and CHIP to improve maternal health outcomes. It mandates state reporting on maternal health quality measures and cesarean section rates, creates a new state option for 'maternity health homes' to coordinate care for pregnant and postpartum women for up to 1 year, and requires hospitals to report NTSV cesarean rates to Medicare. The bill also directs GAO studies on cesarean payment rates and racial disparities, and provides $50 million for state planning grants.
Who Benefits and How
Pregnant and postpartum Medicaid beneficiaries gain access to coordinated care through maternity health homes with coverage extending 365 days postpartum. Maternal health providers (OB-GYNs, midwives, community health workers, doulas) become eligible for enhanced reimbursement through health home payments. States receive planning grants and flexibility to design maternity health home programs. Quality improvement efforts aim to reduce unnecessary cesarean sections and racial disparities in maternal mortality.
Who Bears the Burden and How
State Medicaid programs must submit annual reports on cesarean rates and quality improvement activities through 2037. Hospitals participating in Medicare must report NTSV C-section data. Maternity health homes must report quality measures and patient information to states. HHS must establish qualification standards, approve state plan amendments, and incorporate C-section measures into hospital quality programs.
Key Provisions
- State option for maternity health homes with 365-day postpartum coverage
- Mandatory state reporting on low-risk cesarean rates and racial disparities
- Medicare hospital reporting requirement for NTSV cesarean section rates
- $50 million in planning grants for states (FY2026-2028)
- GAO studies on cesarean payment rates and racial disparities
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Improves maternal health coverage under Medicaid and CHIP through mandatory quality reporting, cesarean section reduction initiatives, maternity health homes option, postpartum coverage extensions, and workforce development.
Key Policy Areas
Healthcare, Medicaid, Maternal Health, Quality Improvement
Primary Purpose
Improves maternal health coverage under Medicaid and CHIP through mandatory quality reporting, cesarean section reduction initiatives, maternity health homes option, postpartum coverage extensions, and workforce development.
Policy Domains
Quality Reporting and Cesarean Section Initiatives
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries
- Maternal health advocates
- Quality improvement organizations
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- State Medicaid programs (reporting)
- Hospitals (C-section reporting)
- GAO (studies)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Maternity Health Homes
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Pregnant and postpartum Medicaid beneficiaries
- Maternity care providers
- States (planning grants)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- HHS (standards and oversight)
- Maternity health homes (reporting)
- Hospitals (notification requirements)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeCommittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.
Mr. Grassley (for himself and Ms. Hassan) introduced the following …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
CMS Administrator, Federal government (reducing improper payments), GAO
Positive-direction: Federal government (reducing improper payments)
Negative-direction: CMS Administrator, GAO, HHS, HHS (administering expert group), HHS (establishing advisory committee and guidance), HHS (establishing expert group), HHS (grant administration and reporting), HHS (guidance and learning collaboratives), HHS (guidance development), HHS (standards and oversight), HHS/CMS, MACPAC
Community health workers, Hospitals (notification requirements), Hospitals and clinical teams
Positive-direction: Community health workers, Hospitals and clinical teams, Hospitals and freestanding birth centers, Maternal care providers, Maternity care providers (OB-GYNs, midwives, doulas), Midwives and doulas, Midwives, doulas, and community-based maternal health organizations, Perinatal quality collaboratives, Remote physiologic monitoring device manufacturers, Telehealth providers (primary care, specialists, behavioral health)
Negative-direction: Hospitals (notification requirements), Hospitals participating in Medicare, Maternity health home providers
State Medicaid programs, States (planning grants), States implementing maternity health homes
State Medicaid programs faces effects in multiple directions
Positive-direction: States (planning grants), States implementing maternity health homes, States implementing telehealth demonstrations
Negative-direction: States with maternity health homes
Eligible pregnant and postpartum women, Pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries, Pregnant and postpartum women
Graduate medical education programs, Medical education institutions
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "the_comptroller_general"
- → Comptroller General of the United States
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Children's Health Insurance Program established under title XXI of the Social Security Act
The Medicaid program established under title XIX of the Social Security Act
Individual eligible for Medicaid who is pregnant or had a pregnancy end within the last 365 days
A designated provider or health team selected by an eligible woman to provide pregnancy and postpartum coordinated care services
Items and services related to coordination of care including medical assistance, care management, care coordination, transitional care, and referrals to community services
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