Military Moms Matter Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3047 To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve postpartum care for members of the Armed Forces and dependents of such members, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2021 Ms. HOULAHAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve postpartum care for members of the Armed Forces and dependents of such members, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Moms Matter 4 Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3047 IH SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF POSTPARTUM CARE FOR CER- 1 TAIN MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND 2 DEPENDENTS. 3 (a) LEAVE FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CARE- 4 GIVERS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 701 of title 10, 6 United State Code, is amended— 7 (A) in subsection (i)— 8 (i) by striking ‘‘total’’ each place it 9 appears and inserting ‘‘parental’’; 10 (ii) in paragraph (1)— 11 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik- 12 ing ‘‘, including up to six weeks of 13 medical convalescent leave’’ and in- 14 serting ‘‘ and up to six weeks of med- 15 ical convalescent leave (which may not 16 be considered in calculating the twelve 17 weeks of parental leave)’’; and 18 (II) in subparagraph (B), by 19 striking ‘‘six weeks’’ and inserting 20 ‘‘twelve weeks’’; and 21 (iii) in paragraph (4), by inserting 22 ‘‘(and such additional medical convalescent 23 leave may not be considered in calculating 24 the twelve weeks of parental leave author- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3047 IH ized under such paragraph)’’ after ‘‘child’’; 1 and 2 (B) in subsection (j)— 3 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘21 4 days of leave’’ and inserting ‘‘twelve weeks 5 of parental leave’’; 6 (ii) by striking paragraph (3); and 7 (iii) in paragraph (4), by striking 8 ‘‘paragraphs (6)’’ and all that follows 9 through ‘‘shall apply’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 10 graphs (4) through (10) of subsection (i) 11 shall apply’’. 12 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made 13 by this section shall take effect on the date of the 14 enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect 15 to births and adoptions that occur on or after the 16 date that is six months after the date of the enact- 17 ment of this Act. 18 (b) POSTPARTUM CARE FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS AND 19 DEPENDENTS.— 20 (1) POSTPARTUM CARE.—Section 1074d of title 21 10, United States Code, is amended— 22 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub- 23 section (c); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3047 IH (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 1 following new subsection (b): 2 ‘‘(b) POSTPARTUM CARE FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS 3 AND DEPENDENTS.—(1) At intervals to be prescribed by 4 the Secretary that follow the date on which a covered indi- 5 vidual gives birth, but not less frequently than four times 6 during the one-year period beginning on such date, and 7 upon consent of the covered individual, the Secretary shall 8 furnish postpartum mental health assessments to the cov- 9 ered individual. Such assessments shall include screening 10 questions related to postpartum anxiety and postpartum 11 depression and may be provided in connection with the 12 follow-up appointments described in paragraph (3). 13 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall ensure that, upon a cov- 14 ered individual giving birth or soon thereafter, the covered 15 individual is offered a referral for a pelvic floor examina- 16 tion as part of the medical care to which the covered indi- 17 vidual is entitled under this chapter. 18 ‘‘(B) Pelvic floor examinations provided pursuant to 19 subparagraph (A) shall be conducted in-person wherever 20 possible, but if the Secretary determines a covered indi- 21 vidual for whom a referral is offered under such subpara- 22 graph is located in a geographic area with an inadequate 23 number of physical therapists trained in providing such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3047 IH examinations, the examination may be provided through 1 a telehealth appointment. 2 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall ensure that there is provided 3 within each military medical treatment facility an option 4 for any covered individual who has given birth at the facil- 5 ity, and who is eligible to receive care at the facility, to 6 schedule a follow-up appointment for postpartum care of 7 the covered individual that is concurrent with the date of 8 the follow-up appointment for postnatal care of the cov- 9 ered individual’s newborn infant. 10 ‘‘(4) In this subsection, the term ‘covered individual’ 11 means a member of the armed forces (including the re- 12 serve components) performing active service, or a depend- 13 ent of such member, who is entitled to medical care under 14 this chapter.’’. 15 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made 16 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of the 17 enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect 18 to births that occur on or after the date that is six 19 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 20 (c) PHYSICAL FITNESS TESTS.—Not later than after 21 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 22 Secretary of Defense shall— 23 (1) develop a standardized policy under which 24 any member of the Armed Forces who gives birth 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3047 IH while on active duty may not be required to take a 1 physical fitness test until the date that is one year 2 after the date on which the member gave birth; and 3 (2) ensure such policy is implemented uniformly 4 across each of the Armed Forces. 5 (d) PILOT PROGRAM TO STREAMLINE POSTPARTUM 6 APPOINTMENTS.— 7 (1) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall 8 carry out a one-year pilot program to further 9 streamline the process of scheduling postpartum ap- 10 pointments at military medical treatment facilities 11 by reducing the number of distinct visits required 12 for such appointments. 13 (2) STREAMLINING OF APPOINTMENTS.—In 14 carrying out the pilot program under paragraph (1), 15 the Secretary shall ensure that there is provided 16 within each military medical treatment facility se- 17 lected under paragraph (3) an option for covered in- 18 dividuals who have recently given birth at the facil- 19 ity, and who are eligible to receive care at the facil- 20 ity, to receive a physical therapy evaluation in con- 21 nection with each appointment provided by the facil- 22 ity for postpartum care of the covered individual or 23 for care of the covered individual’s newborn infant, 24 including such appointments provided concurrently 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3047 IH pursuant to section 1074d(b) of title 10, United 25 1 States Code (as added by subsection (b)). 2 (3) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select not 3 fewer than ten military medical treatment facilities 4 at which to carry out the pilot program under para- 5 graph (1). In making such selection, the Secretary 6 shall ensure geographic diversity with respect to the 7 location of the facilities, including by considering for 8 selection facilities located outside of the United 9 States. 10 (4) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 11 commencement of the pilot program under para- 12 graph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 13 mittees on Armed Services of the House of Rep- 14 resentatives and the Senate a report on the effective- 15 ness of the pilot program. Such report shall in- 16 clude— 17 (A) a recommendation by the Secretary on 18 whether to expand or extend the pilot program; 19 and 20 (B) a summary of the findings that led to 21 such recommendation. 22 (5) COVERED INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this 23 subsection, the term ‘‘covered individual’’ has the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3047 IH meaning given such term in section 1074d(b) of title 1 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (b)). 2 (e) PELVIC HEALTH AT MILITARY MEDICAL TREAT- 3 MENT FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall take such steps 4 as are necessary to increase the capacity of military med- 5 ical treatment facilities to provide pelvic health rehabilita- 6 tion services, including by increasing the number of phys- 7 ical therapists employed at such facilities who are trained 8 in pelvic health rehabilitation. 9 (f) REVIEW OF PELVIC HEALTH REHABILITATION 10 PROGRAMS.— 11 (1) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall 12 conduct a review of any current pelvic health reha- 13 bilitation programs of the Department of Defense, 14 including an evaluation of the outcomes of any such 15 programs. 16 (2) REPORT.—Not later than nine months after 17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 18 shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services 19 of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 20 report containing the findings of the review required 21 under paragraph (1). 22 (g) GUIDANCE ON OBSTETRIC HEMORRHAGE TREAT- 23 MENT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the en- 24 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue guidance on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3047 IH the development and implementation of standard protocols 1 across the military health system for the treatment of ob- 2 stetric hemorrhages, including through the use of patho- 3 gen reduced resuscitative blood products. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3047.IH H3047 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS