WELLS Act

Summary#

This bill, the WELLS Act, requires hospitals that participate in Medicare to make a discharge plan for any person who is identified as pregnant, shows signs of labor, and is expected to be sent home before delivery. The rule takes effect January 1, 2027, and applies to hospitals, critical access hospitals, and rural emergency hospitals. Each discharge plan must be placed in the patients medical record and discussed with the patient or their representative before discharge. The plan must include: a clinical reason for the discharge; an assessment of travel distance and time between the persons home and the hospital; verification of reliable transportation; identification of a backup hospital or facility for labor and delivery; confirmation the plan was reviewed and approved by a qualified medical professional (as defined by HHS); and confirmation that the patient received the information in their primary language and understood it. The bill also changes an existing rural maternal and obstetric care training grant program to require racial bias training, to set minimum performance milestones (including milestones tied to the percent of staff trained), and to require annual public reports listing grantees, grant amounts, training formats, geographic coverage, numbers of providers trained, and patient-level metrics. The Secretary of HHS must create a multi-center implementation science initiative to study different training models for health professionals and their effects on provider behavior, patient outcomes, and maternal health disparities. The Secretary must also publish a maternal health dashboard with outcome metrics, including maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, numbers and outcomes of discharges of pregnant individuals prior to delivery, and data on Federal maternal health research investments.

What it means for you#

• If you are pregnant and are sent home before you give birth, the hospital must make a written plan and put it in your medical record.
• The hospital must talk with you (or your representative) about the plan before you leave and give the information in your main language. You must be given a chance to confirm you understand the plan.
• The plan must say why the hospital thinks discharge is safe, how far you live from care, whether you have reliable transportation, and where you can go if you need labor and delivery care.
• Hospitals that take Medicare patients must follow these rules to keep participating in Medicare starting in 2027.
• Some rural training programs will get new requirements and reporting. HHS will study training methods and publish a public dashboard with maternal health data.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on cost estimates or total federal spending is included in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information on proponents' stated arguments or detailed views is included in the bill text or metadata.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information on opponents' stated arguments or detailed views is included in the bill text or metadata.