119-hr1254

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1254 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1254

 To improve obstetric emergency care.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 12, 2025

 Ms. Kelly of Illinois (for herself, Mrs. Kim, Ms. Schrier, and Mr. 
 Meuser) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To improve obstetric emergency care.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act''.

SEC. 2. OBSTETRIC EMERGENCY TRAINING PROGRAM.

 

Section 330O of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254c-21) 
is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (a) --
        (A) in paragraph

    (3) , by striking ``; and'' and 
 inserting a semicolon;
        (B) in paragraph

    (4) , by striking the period and 
 inserting ``; and''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (5) developing, and facilitating access to, an evidence-
 based program to train practitioners in rural health care 
 facilities without dedicated obstetric units to provide 
 emergency obstetric services during pregnancy, labor, delivery, 
 or the postpartum period, including training on how to prepare 
 for, identify, stabilize, and safely transfer, as appropriate 
 and within the scope of practice of an individual practitioner, 
 a woman experiencing labor, delivery, obstetric hemorrhage, 
 severe hypertension, cardiac conditions, perinatal mental 
 health conditions, substance use, sepsis, or other conditions, 
 as appropriate.'';

    (2) by redesignating subsections
            (c) and
            (d) as subsections
            (d) and

    (e) , respectively;

    (3) by inserting after subsection

    (b) the following:
 ``
            (c) Training Program for Eligible Practitioners in Rural Health 
Care Facilities.--A training program described in subsection

    (a)

    (5) shall include an assessment of obstetric training needs for rural 
health care facilities without dedicated obstetric units. In developing 
the training program, a recipient of a grant under such subsection 
shall--
 ``

    (1) work in consultation with at least one representative 
 from a national medical society that has experience or 
 expertise in rural health care delivery in each of the fields 
 of gynecology and obstetrics, emergency medicine, family 
 medicine, and anesthesiology; and
 ``

    (2) facilitate access to obstetric readiness training via 
 regional training partnerships and technical assistance to 
 rural health care facilities.''; and

    (4) in subsection

    (e) , as so redesignated, by adding at the 
 end the following: ``In addition to amounts appropriated under 
 the previous sentence, for grants for the purpose described in 
 subsection

    (a)

    (5) , there are authorized to be appropriated 
 $5,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2026 through 2028''.

SEC. 3. GRANT FUNDING FOR EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.

 Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
254b et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

section 330A-2 the 
following:

``

SEC. 330A-3. PROGRAM OF SUPPORT FOR OBSTETRIC SERVICES.

 ``

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall award grants, contracts, or 
cooperative agreements to eligible entities to integrate obstetric 
readiness training curriculum into rural health care settings, build 
workforce capacity, and purchase equipment necessary to manage 
obstetric emergencies.
 ``

    (b) Use of Funds.--A recipient of funds under this section shall 
use such funds for the purpose described in subsection

    (a) , which may 
include any of the following:
 ``

    (1) Purchasing or providing equipment and technical 
 assistance to train practitioners who are not specialized in 
 obstetrics in preparing for, identifying, stabilizing, and 
 transferring, as appropriate and within the scope of practice 
 of the practitioner, individuals experiencing obstetric 
 emergencies.
 ``

    (2) Purchasing or providing equipment necessary to 
 prepare for, identify, stabilize, or transfer, as appropriate, 
 individuals experiencing obstetric emergencies.
 ``

    (3) Developing and carrying out protocols for transfer of 
 patients to other facilities and network engagement with other 
 facilities.
 ``

    (4) Hiring additional personnel or paying the salaries of 
 personnel.
 ``

    (5) Establishing training opportunities to enable non-
 obstetric health professionals to gain exposure to, and 
 expertise in, the delivery of obstetric services, including 
 through clinical rotations, fellowships, or cross-training 
 clinicians in other specialties.
 ``

    (6) Enabling clinical educators to coordinate, develop, 
 and implement comprehensive interdisciplinary trainings, 
 including team-based simulation training for providers who may 
 need to respond to an obstetric emergency.
 ``
            (c) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, an entity shall--
 ``

    (1) be--
 ``
        (A) a rural hospital, critical access hospital 
 (as determined under 

section 1820
            (c) (2) of the Social 
 Security Act), or a rural emergency hospital (as 
 defined in 

section 1861

    (kkk)

    (2) of the Social Security 
 Act) that is located in a maternity care health 
 professional target area or a rural area (as defined by 
 the Secretary); or
 ``
        (B) a consortium of 3 entities that includes at 
 least 2 entities described in subparagraph
        (A) ; and
 ``

    (2) agree to carry out the program described in 
 subsection

    (a) , in coordination with other federally funded 
 maternal and child health programs, to the extent practicable, 
 and in consultation with other maternal and child health 
 programs in the same geographic area.
 ``
            (d) === Definitions. ===
-In this section--
 ``

    (1) the term `maternity care health professional target 
 area' means a primary care health professional shortage area 
 that is experiencing a shortage of maternity health care 
 professionals, as identified under 

section 332

    (k) ; and
 ``

    (2) the term `rural area' has the meaning given such term 
 by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
 ``

    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for the period of 
fiscal years 2026 through 2029.''.

SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR TELECONSULTATION.

 Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
254b et seq.), is amended by inserting after 

section 330A-3, as 
inserted by 

section 3, the following:

``

SEC. 330A-4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR TELECONSULTATION.

 ``

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Administrator 
of the Health Resources and Services Administration and in consultation 
with the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 
shall award grants or cooperative agreements to States, political 
subdivisions of States, and Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations (as 
such terms are defined in 

section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 
and Education Assistance Act) to support the provision of urgent 
maternal health care in rural facilities without a dedicated obstetric 
unit, including by--
 ``

    (1) supporting the development of statewide or regional 
 maternal health care telehealth access programs; and
 ``

    (2) supporting the improvement of existing statewide or 
 regional maternal health care telehealth access programs 
 described in subsection

    (b) .
 ``

    (b) Statewide or Regional Maternal Health Care Telehealth Access 
Programs.--A maternal health care telehealth access program described 
in this section, with respect to which an award under subsection

    (a) may be used, shall--
 ``

    (1) be a statewide or regional network of maternal health 
 care teams that provide urgent support to rural non-obstetric 
 settings of care;
 ``

    (2) support and further develop organized State or 
 regional networks of maternal health care teams to provide 
 urgent consultative support to rural non-obstetric settings of 
 care;
 ``

    (3) conduct an assessment of urgent maternal health 
 consultation needs among providers in rural non-obstetric 
 settings of care;
 ``

    (4) provide assurances that the physicians responsive to 
 the teleconsultation line are credentialed within their 
 employing facility and can provide consultation where the 
 patient is receiving care consistent with State requirements to 
 provide care to individuals experiencing labor, delivery, 
 obstetric hemorrhage, severe hypertension in pregnancy and 
 postpartum, cardiac conditions related to or exacerbated by 
 pregnancy, perinatal mental health conditions, substance use 
 during pregnancy or the postpartum period, sepsis during 
 pregnancy or after pregnancy end, or other conditions, as 
 appropriate;
 ``

    (5) provide rapid statewide or regional clinical 
 telephone or telehealth consultations when requested between 
 the maternal care teams and providers in rural emergency non-
 obstetric settings; and
 ``

    (6) provide information to health care providers about 
 available maternal health services for people in the community 
 and assist with referrals to specialty care and community or 
 behavioral health resources.
 ``
            (c) Reporting.--An entity receiving an award under this section 
shall submit a report to the Secretary, in such manner and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require, not later than 18 months 
after initial receipt of the grant.
 ``
            (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for the period of 
fiscal years 2026 through 2029.''.

SEC. 5. STUDY ON OBSTETRIC UNITS IN RURAL AREAS.

 The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall--

    (1) conduct a study that maps maternity ward closures and 
 regional patterns of patient transport and examines models for 
 regional partnerships for rural obstetric care; and

    (2) not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 
 this Act, submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
 and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 
 Commerce and the Committee on Education and Workforce of the 
 House of Representatives, a report on the results of the study 
 conducted under paragraph

    (1) .
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