Midwives for MOMS Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3352 To address maternity care shortages and promote optimal maternity outcomes by expanding educational opportunities for midwives, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 19, 2021 Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, and Mrs. HINSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To address maternity care shortages and promote optimal maternity outcomes by expanding educational opportuni- ties for midwives, 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 ‘‘Midwives for Maxi- 4 mizing Optimal Maternity Services Act of 2021’’ or the 5 ‘‘Midwives for MOMS Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3352.IH H3352 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3352 IH SEC. 2. MIDWIFERY SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Public Health 2 Service Act is amended by inserting after section 760 of 3 such Act (42 U.S.C. 294k) the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 760A. MIDWIFERY SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS. 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 6 to institutions of higher education (as defined in sub- 7 sections (a) and (b) of section 101 of the Higher Edu- 8 cation Act of 1965) for the following: 9 ‘‘(1) Direct support of students in an accredited 10 midwifery school or program. 11 ‘‘(2) Establishment or expansion of an accred- 12 ited midwifery school or program. 13 ‘‘(3) Securing, preparing, or providing support 14 for increasing the number of, qualified preceptors 15 for training the students of an accredited midwifery 16 school or program. 17 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding 18 grants under subsection (a), the Secretary give special 19 consideration to any institution of higher education that— 20 ‘‘(1) agrees to prioritize students who plan to 21 practice in a health professional shortage area des- 22 ignated under section 332; and 23 ‘‘(2) demonstrates a focus on increasing racial 24 and ethnic minority representation in midwifery edu- 25 cation. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3352.IH H3352 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3352 IH ‘‘(c) RESTRICTION.—The Secretary shall not provide 1 any assistance under this section to be used with respect 2 to a midwifery school or program within a school of nurs- 3 ing (as defined in section 801). 4 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 6 appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000 7 for the period of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 8 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts made 9 available to carry out this section for any fiscal year, 10 the Secretary shall use— 11 ‘‘(A) 50 percent for subsection (a)(1); 12 ‘‘(B) 25 percent for subsection (a)(2); and 13 ‘‘(C) 25 percent for subsection (a)(3).’’. 14 (b) DEFINITIONS.— 15 (1) MIDWIFERY SCHOOL OR PROGRAM.—Sec- 16 tion 799B(1)(A) of the Public Health Service Act 17 (42 U.S.C. 295p(1)(A)) is amended— 18 (A) by inserting ‘‘ ‘midwifery school or pro- 19 gram’,’’ before ‘‘and ‘school of chiropractic’ ’’; 20 (B) by inserting ‘‘a degree or certificate in 21 midwifery or an equivalent degree or certifi- 22 cate,’’ before ‘‘and a degree of doctor of chiro- 23 practic or an equivalent degree’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3352.IH H3352 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3352 IH (C) by striking ‘‘any such school’’ and in- 1 serting ‘‘any such school or program’’. 2 (2) ACCREDITED.—Section 799B(1)(E) of the 3 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p(1)(E)) is 4 amended by inserting ‘‘or a midwifery school or pro- 5 gram,’’ before ‘‘or a graduate program in health ad- 6 ministration’’. 7 SEC. 3. NURSE-MIDWIVES. 8 Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act is amend- 9 ed by inserting after section 811 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 10 296j) the following: 11 ‘‘SEC. 812. MIDWIFERY EXPANSION PROGRAM. 12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 13 to schools of nursing for the following: 14 ‘‘(1) Direct support of students in an accredited 15 nurse-midwifery school or program. 16 ‘‘(2) Establishment or expansion of an accred- 17 ited nurse-midwifery school or program. 18 ‘‘(3) Securing, preparing, or providing support 19 for increasing the numbers of, preceptors at clinical 20 training sites to precept students training to become 21 certified nurse-midwives. 22 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding 23 grants under subsection (a), the Secretary give special 24 consideration to any school of nursing that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3352.IH H3352 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3352 IH ‘‘(1) agrees to prioritize students who choose to 1 pursue an advanced education degree in nurse-mid- 2 wifery to practice in a health professional shortage 3 area designated under section 332; and 4 ‘‘(2) demonstrates a focus on increasing racial 5 and ethnic minority representation in nurse-mid- 6 wifery education. 7 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 9 there is authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 10 for the period of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 11 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts made 12 available to carry out this section for any fiscal year, 13 the Secretary shall use— 14 ‘‘(A) 50 percent for subsection (a)(1); 15 ‘‘(B) 25 percent for subsection (a)(2); and 16 ‘‘(C) 25 percent for subsection (a)(3).’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3352.IH H3352 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS