Social Determinants for Moms Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6132 To address social determinants of health for women in the prenatal and postpartum periods, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2020 Mrs. MCBATH (for herself, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. MOORE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. PRESSLEY, and Mr. LAWSON of Florida) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Agriculture, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To address social determinants of health for women in the prenatal and postpartum periods, 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 ‘‘Social Determinants 4 for Moms Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6132 IH SEC. 2. TASK FORCE TO COORDINATE EFFORTS TO AD- 1 DRESS SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH 2 FOR WOMEN IN THE PRENATAL AND 3 POSTPARTUM PERIODS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 5 Human Services shall convene a task force (in this section 6 referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’) to develop strategies to 7 coordinate efforts across the Federal Government to ad- 8 dress social determinants of health for women in the pre- 9 natal and postpartum periods. 10 (b) MEMBERS.—The members of the Task Force 11 shall consist of the following: 12 (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 13 ices (or the Secretary’s designee). 14 (2) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel- 15 opment (or the Secretary’s designee). 16 (3) The Secretary of Transportation (or the 17 Secretary’s designee). 18 (4) The Secretary of Agriculture (or the Sec- 19 retary’s designee). 20 (5) The Administrator of the Environmental 21 Protection Agency (or the Administrator’s designee). 22 (6) The Assistant Secretary for the Administra- 23 tion for Children and Families (or the Assistant Sec- 24 retary’s designee). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6132 IH (7) The Administrator of the Centers for Medi- 1 care & Medicaid Services (or the Administrator’s 2 designee). 3 (8) The Director of the Indian Health Service 4 (or the Director’s designee). 5 (9) The Director of the National Institutes of 6 Health (or the Director’s designee). 7 (10) The Administrator of the Health Re- 8 sources and Services Administration (or the Admin- 9 istrator’s designee). 10 (11) The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minor- 11 ity Health of the Department of Health and Human 12 Services (or the Deputy Assistant Secretary’s des- 13 ignee). 14 (12) The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Wom- 15 en’s Health of the Department of Health and 16 Human Services (or the Deputy Assistant Sec- 17 retary’s designee). 18 (13) The Director of the Centers for Disease 19 Control and Prevention (or the Director’s designee). 20 (14) A woman who has experienced severe ma- 21 ternal morbidity or a family member of a woman 22 who has suffered a pregnancy-related death. 23 (15) A leader of a community-based organiza- 24 tion that addresses maternal mortality and severe 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6132 IH maternal morbidity with a specific focus on racial 1 and ethnic disparities. 2 (16) A maternal health care provider. 3 (c) CHAIR.—The Secretary of Health and Human 4 Services shall select the Chair of the Task Force from 5 among the members of the Task Force. 6 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 7 of enactment of this Act, the Task Force shall— 8 (1) finalize strategies to coordinate efforts 9 across the Federal Government to address social de- 10 terminants of health for women in the prenatal and 11 postpartum periods; and 12 (2) submit a report on such strategies to the 13 Congress, including— 14 (A) plans for implementing such strategies; 15 and 16 (B) recommendations on the funding 17 amounts needed by each department and agen- 18 cy to implement such strategies. 19 (e) TERMINATION.—Termination under section 14 of 20 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall 21 not apply to the Task Force. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6132 IH SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR GUIDANCE RELATING TO SO- 1 CIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH FOR PREG- 2 NANT WOMEN. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 5 and Human Services shall issue guidance with respect to 6 how medicaid managed care organizations and State Med- 7 icaid programs can use payments made pursuant to sec- 8 tion 1903 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b) 9 to address the following issues related to social deter- 10 minants of health for high-risk mothers during the pre- 11 sumptive eligibility period for pregnant women: 12 (1) Housing. 13 (2) Transportation. 14 (3) Nutrition. 15 (4) Lactation and other infant feeding options 16 support. 17 (5) Lead testing and abatement. 18 (6) Air and water quality. 19 (7) Car seat installation. 20 (8) Child care access. 21 (9) Wellness and stress management programs. 22 (10) Other social determinants of health (as de- 23 termined by the Secretary). 24 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6132 IH (1) MEDICAID MANAGED CARE ORGANIZA- 1 TIONS.—The term ‘‘medicaid managed care organi- 2 zation’’ has the meaning given such term in section 3 1903(m)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 4 1396b(m)(1)(A)). 5 (2) PRESUMPTIVE ELIGIBILITY PERIOD.—The 6 term ‘‘presumptive eligibility period’’ has the mean- 7 ing given such term in section 1920(b)(1) of the So- 8 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r–1(b)(1)). 9 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOP- 10 MENT. 11 The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 12 shall establish a new Housing for Moms task force within 13 the Department that shall be responsible for ensuring that 14 women in the prenatal and postpartum periods have safe, 15 stable, affordable, and adequate housing for themselves 16 and their other children. The task force shall— 17 (1) study how the Department of Housing and 18 Urban Development can support women in the pre- 19 natal and postpartum periods and make rec- 20 ommendations to the Secretary; 21 (2) provide guidance to regional offices of the 22 Department on measures to ensure that local hous- 23 ing infrastructure is supportive to women in the pre- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6132 IH natal and postpartum periods, including providing 1 information on— 2 (A) health-promoting housing codes; 3 (B) enforcement of housing codes; 4 (C) proactive rental inspection programs; 5 (D) code enforcement officer training; and 6 (E) partnerships between regional offices 7 of the Department and community organiza- 8 tions to ensure housing laws are understood 9 and violations are discovered; and 10 (3) not later than 2 years after the date of en- 11 actment of this Act, and annually thereafter, submit 12 to the Congress a report summarizing the activities 13 of the task force. 14 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. 15 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 16 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation 17 shall submit to Congress a report containing— 18 (1) an assessment of transportation barriers 19 preventing individuals from attending prenatal and 20 postpartum appointments, accessing maternal health 21 care services, or accessing services and resources re- 22 lated to social determinants of health that affect ma- 23 ternal health outcomes, such as healthy foods; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6132 IH (2) recommendations on how to overcome such 1 barriers; and 2 (3) an assessment of transportation safety risks 3 for pregnant individuals and recommendations on 4 how to mitigate such risks. 5 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out subsection 6 (a), the Secretary shall give special consideration to solu- 7 tions for— 8 (1) women living in a health professional short- 9 age area designated under section 332 of the Public 10 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e); and 11 (2) women living in areas with high maternal 12 mortality or severe morbidity rates and significant 13 racial or ethnic disparities in maternal health out- 14 comes. 15 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 16 (a) SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PRO- 17 GRAM.— 18 (1) EXTENSION OF POSTPARTUM PERIOD.— 19 Section 17(b)(10) of the Child Nutrition Act of 20 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(b)(10)) is amended by strik- 21 ing ‘‘six months’’ and inserting ‘‘24 months’’. 22 (2) EXTENSION OF BREASTFEEDING PERIOD.— 23 Section 17(d)(3)(A)(ii) of the Child Nutrition Act of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6132 IH 1966 (7 U.S.C. 1431(d)(3)(A)(ii)) is amended by 1 striking ‘‘1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘24 months’’. 2 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 3 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 4 shall submit to Congress a report that includes an 5 evaluation of the effect of each of the amendments 6 made by this subsection on— 7 (A) maternal and infant health outcomes, 8 including racial and ethnic disparities with re- 9 spect to such outcomes; 10 (B) qualitative evaluations of family expe- 11 riences under the special supplemental nutrition 12 program under section 17 of the Child Nutri- 13 tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); and 14 (C) the cost effectiveness of such special 15 supplemental nutrition program. 16 (b) GRANT PROGRAM FOR HEALTHY FOOD AND 17 CLEAN WATER FOR PREGNANT AND POSTPARTUM 18 WOMEN.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 20 out a grant program to make grants on a competi- 21 tive basis to eligible entities to carry out the nutri- 22 tional activities described in paragraph (4). 23 (2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 24 grant under this subsection an eligible entity shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6132 IH submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 1 in such manner, and containing such information as 2 the Secretary may provide. 3 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 4 subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to an eli- 5 gible entity that proposes in an application under 6 paragraph (2) to use the grant funds to carry out 7 activities in areas with— 8 (A) high maternal mortality or severe ma- 9 ternal morbidity rates; and 10 (B) significant racial or ethnic disparities 11 in maternal health outcomes. 12 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that re- 13 ceives a grant under this subsection shall use funds 14 under the grant to deliver healthy food, infant for- 15 mula, or clean water to pregnant and postpartum 16 women located in areas that are food deserts, as de- 17 termined by the Secretary using data from the Food 18 Access Research Atlas of the Department of Agri- 19 culture. 20 (5) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 21 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 22 shall submit to Congress a report that includes— 23 (A) an evaluation of the effect of the grant 24 program under this subsection on maternal and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6132 IH infant health outcomes, including racial and 1 ethnic disparities with respect to such out- 2 comes; and 3 (B) recommendations with respect to en- 4 suring the activities described in paragraph (4) 5 continue after the grant period funding such ac- 6 tivities expires. 7 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 9 as may be necessary to carry out this subsection for 10 fiscal years 2021 through 2023. 11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 13 ty’’ includes public entities, private community enti- 14 ties, community-based organizations, Indian tribes 15 and tribal organizations (as such terms are defined 16 in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 17 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)), and 18 urban Indian organizations (as such term is defined 19 in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement 20 Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)). 21 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 22 the Secretary of Agriculture. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Mar 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6132.IH H6132 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6132 IH SEC. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY THROUGH NATIONAL 1 ACADEMIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi- 3 ronmental Protection Agency shall seek to enter an agree- 4 ment, not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 5 of this Act, with the National Academies of Sciences, En- 6 gineering, and Medicine (referred to in this section as the 7 ‘‘National Academies’’) under which the National Acad- 8 emies agree to conduct a study on the impacts of water 9 and air quality, exposure to extreme temperatures, and 10 pollution levels on maternal and infant health outcomes. 11 (b) STUDY REQUIREMENTS.—The agreement under 12 subsection (a) shall direct the National Academies to make 13 recommendations for— 14 (1) improving environmental conditions to im- 15 prove maternal and infant health outcomes; and 16 (2) reducing or eliminating racial and ethnic 17 disparities in such outcomes. 18 (c) REPORT.—The agreement under subsection (a) 19 shall direct the National Academies to complete the study 20 under this section and transmit to the Congress [Text truncated for display. 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