A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize support for State-based maternal mortality review committees, to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to disseminate best practices on maternal mortality prevention to hospitals, State-based professional societies, and perinatal quality collaboratives, and for other purposes.
This bill would modernize and extend federal support for state-based maternal mortality review committees and expand the federal role in sharing proven practices to prevent maternal deaths. Key changes include adding obstetricians/gynecologists to the list of clinical specialties involved in reviews, tightening language to improve the collection and accuracy of death records (including cause-of-death information on death certificates), and establishing a formal requirement for the Secretary of Health and Human Services (through the CDC Director and in coordination with HRSA) to regularly disseminate best practices for preventing maternal mortality to hospitals, state professional societies, and perinatal quality collaboratives. The funding authorization for these activities would be increased, with a new level of $100 million per fiscal year for 2026–2030 (up from $58 million per year for 2019–2023). In short, the bill strengthens state-level maternal death review efforts, expands and standardizes the flow of best-practice information to key stakeholders, and provides higher and more sustained federal funding to support these activities.
Key Points
- 1State-based maternal mortality review committees: The bill updates the Public Health Service Act to include obstetricians and gynecologists as recognized clinical specialties for these reviews, and it tightens provisions related to death certificate data collection and coordination with death certifiers to improve the quality of death records and cause-of-death information.
- 2Best practices dissemination: The Secretary of Health and Human Services (via the CDC Director, with HRSA input) must disseminate best practices on preventing maternal mortality to hospitals, state professional societies, and perinatal quality collaboratives. This dissemination should reflect best practices identified across relevant federal maternal health programs and occur at least once per fiscal year.
- 3Funding extension and increase: The authorization level is changed from $58,000,000 per year (2019–2023) to $100,000,000 per year for 2026–2030, signaling a substantial expansion in federal support for these activities.
- 4Administrative/organizational changes: The bill restructures subsections within the same statute (renumbering subsections e and f to f and g, respectively) and inserts the new subsection on best practices, clarifying how these provisions interact with existing authorities.
- 5Scope and purpose: Beyond reauthorizing and funding, the bill emphasizes prevention and coordination across federal, state, hospital, and professional-society activities to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity.