Sec. 506. Eliminating disparities in maternity health outcomes
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Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 317V, as added, the following new section: The Secretary (in consultation with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Administrator of the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, and in consultation with relevant national stakeholder organizations such as national medical specialty organizations, national maternal child health organizations, national groups that represent minority populations, and national health disparity organizations) shall carry out the following activities to eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes:
Conduct research into the determinants and the distribution of disparities in maternal care, health risks, and health outcomes, and improve the capacity of the performance measurement infrastructure to measure such disparities. Expand access to services that have been demonstrated to improve the quality and outcomes of maternity care for vulnerable populations. Establish a demonstration project to compare the effectiveness of interventions to reduce disparities in maternity services and outcomes, and implement and assess effective interventions.
The demonstration project under subsection (a)(3) shall be conducted in no more than 8 States, which shall be selected by the Secretary based on— applications submitted by States, which specify which regions and populations the State involved will serve under the demonstration project; criteria designed by the Secretary to ensure that, as a whole, the demonstration project is, to the greatest extent possible, representative of the demographic and geographic composition of communities most affected by disparities; criteria designed by the Secretary to ensure that a variety of types of models are tested through the demonstration project and that such models include interventions that have an existing evidence base for effectiveness; and criteria designed by the Secretary to assure that the demonstration projects and models will be carried out in consultation with local and regional provider organizations, such as community health centers, hospital systems, and medical societies representing providers of maternity services.
The demonstration project under subsection (a)(3) shall begin on January 1, 2017, and end on December 31, 2021. The Secretary may make grants to States and health care providers participating in the demonstration project under subsection (a)(3) for the purpose of collecting data necessary for the evaluation and monitoring of such project. Each State that participates in the demonstration project under subsection (a)(3) shall report to the Secretary, in a time, form, and manner specified by the Secretary, the data necessary to— monitor the— outcomes of the project; costs of the project; and quality of maternity care provided under the project; and evaluate the rationale for the selection of the items and services included in any bundled payment made by the State under the project.
Not later than December 31, 2022, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the demonstration project under subsection (a)(3). .