Summary#
This bill, the Data to Save Moms Act, would change the Public Health Service Act to improve how the country collects and reviews maternal health data and quality measures. It would fund grants to help maternal mortality review committees include community members and do outreach, require technical assistance, and reserve some funds for Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Urban Indian organizations. The bill directs HHS to review current data collection and quality measures and to report recommendations to Congress. It also requires a study of maternal health for American Indian and Alaska Native people and sets up grants to minority-serving institutions to study maternal mortality and related problems. The bill defines key terms such as pregnancy-associated death, pregnancy-related death, severe maternal morbidity, maternity care providers, and perinatal health workers.
What it means for you#
- Maternal mortality review committees could get federal grants to recruit and support community members, including people with lived experience and nonclinical backgrounds.
- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would review how states and tribes collect maternal health data and how quality measures are used, then publish recommendations within a year.
- HHS must contract with a research organization or Tribal Epidemiology Center to study maternal health for American Indian and Alaska Native people and report findings within three years.
- Researchers at minority-serving institutions could receive grants to study causes of maternal deaths, severe maternal morbidity, and to include community perspectives.
- The bill would require more outreach, community engagement, and attention to race, ethnicity, and social factors in maternal health reviews and measures.
Expenses#
- Grants to promote representative community engagement in maternal mortality review committees: authorized $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
- Of amounts made available under a related provision, not less than $1,500,000 per fiscal year must be reserved for Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, or Urban Indian organizations.
- Review of maternal health data collection and quality measures: authorized "such sums as may be necessary" for fiscal years 2027 through 2030.
- Study on maternal health among American Indian and Alaska Native individuals: authorized $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2029.
- Grants to minority-serving institutions for maternal health research: authorized $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
- No publicly available information on total estimated federal cost, offsets, or how existing program funds would be reallocated beyond the authorizations above.
Proponents' View#
The bill directs HHS to improve data collection, increase community engagement in review committees, study maternal health needs of American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and fund research at minority-serving institutions. Supporters present these steps as ways to identify causes of maternal deaths and severe maternal health problems and to make maternal health data and quality measures more complete and more focused on affected communities.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information.