S-958-119
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sponsored by Ben Luján (D-NM)
What it does
This bill would do three things: (1) add telehealth-based screening, monitoring, and management of pregnancy complications to the list of Medicaid innovation models that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) may test, covering pregnancy through one year postpartum; (2) authorize up to $30 million over five years (FY2026–2030) in grants to a single eligible entity to develop and expand technology-enabled collaborative learning networks that connect maternal health providers in underserved, rural, and high-mortality areas; and (3) authorize up to $30 million over five years in separate grants to promote digital tools — including AI-based early warning systems and clinical decision support — to reduce maternal health disparities, while also commissioning a National Academies study on technology and bias in maternity care devices.
Who benefits
Pregnant and postpartum individuals in rural, underserved, and high-maternal-mortality areas who would gain access to remote monitoring and telehealth services. American Indian, Alaska Native, and Urban Indian communities with historically limited access to maternal care. Racial and ethnic minority patients who face documented disparities in maternal outcomes. Maternal health care providers in shortage areas who would receive training and technology support. Health systems and telehealth companies developing maternal health platforms. Researchers and the National Academies, which would receive funding for the commissioned study. Indirectly, newborns whose outcomes are tied to maternal health.
Who is hurt
Taxpayers who bear the cost of the $60 million in authorized appropriations. Entities that do not receive the single grant awards under Sections 3 and 4, including competing organizations that apply but are not selected. Traditional in-person maternal care providers who may face competitive pressure from telehealth expansion. Patients in areas without reliable broadband access, who may be nominally eligible but practically unable to use telehealth tools — the bill addresses this only through optional coordination, not a mandate. States that may face administrative burden in implementing new Medicaid telehealth innovation models under Section 2.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations, with Black women dying at roughly three times the rate of white women, according to CDC data. They contend that telehealth has demonstrated measurable success in expanding access during the COVID-19 public health emergency, and that this bill builds on that evidence by directing resources specifically to the highest-need areas — rural communities, health professional shortage areas, and populations with documented disparities. They further argue the bill's research and evaluation requirements ensure accountability and generate evidence to guide future policy.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the bill's structure — limiting each grant program to a single recipient for five years — concentrates federal resources in one organization and reduces competitive accountability, potentially locking in an approach before sufficient evidence exists. They contend that authorizing $60 million without addressing the underlying broadband gap or interstate telehealth licensing barriers (which the bill only studies, not solves) may produce limited real-world impact in the most underserved areas. They further argue that embedding implicit bias and social determinants training as required grant uses conflates clinical technology goals with contested social policy priorities.