Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act

June 6th, 2025

Welcome back to Policies Humanized.

Yesterday, we announced some changes to our weekly newsletter in response to early user feedback and internal reflections. Momentarily, we have decided to shift away from the weekly newsletter format, replacing it with these new individually broken down pieces at this time, to avoid long dense reads. We are continuously re-evaluating our platform and processes with the mission of providing you the digestible and actionable reads without it being overwhelming. It is totally possible that the first newsletter was an estimated twelve minute read because of how long the bill was itself! But as always, we are open to critiques, coverage suggestion, and feedback from our users at the email: policieshumanized@gmail.com.

Policies Humanized has made no changes to its goal and will continue to break down the biggest legislative and policy stories, making them clear, personal, and actionable. We believe policy shouldn’t just be reported; it should be understood.

Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act

Breaking down the “Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies,” you can find the full bill here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1834/titles

On Wednesday, May 21st, the Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act was introduced by Mrs. Hyde-Smith in the Senate of the United States. S.1834 is inscribed with the line "To prevent cost-sharing requirements for prenatal, childbirth, neonatal, perinatal, or postpartum health care" (Congress.gov).

The Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker conducted a study on healthcare costs related to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care with data from the IBM MarketScan Encounter Database from 2018 through 2020 for enrollees in large employer private health plans. Their findings highlight the financial burden of the full spectrum of pregnancy for even those who are enrolled in private health insurance plans. Researchers found that women incurred an average of $18,865 more than their counterparts who did not give birth. The average out of pocket cost was $2,854 with costs of cesarean sections being higher than vaginal delivery.

High medical costs in the United States are no surprise, but it remains a major barrier that discourages many people to seek necessary medical care. These costs for the majority of people who are unable to afford it leads to medical debt. In fact, for pregnant people, the CDC has reported a trend of declining rates of seeking prenatal care and an increase in the amount of people who have no prenatal care. To decrease maternal morbidity and mortality rates, support throughout every stage of pregnancy is crucial.

Image sourced from Motherly Stories: "I hosted a motherhood gathering—and it was a life-altering experience" by Mariah Maddox. The image does not serve as a indicator to read that article or in any shape or form reflect the opinions of the author. The use of the image is to simply portray the relationship between parents and their children.

What does the Bill change?

1. No more Cost Sharing: Cost sharing is when a patient pays for a portion of the health care service they receive, in which they share a burden of the total cost with their insurance provider. The bill proposes an elimination to cost sharing practices (co-pays, deductibles, etc.) for healthcare cost that pertains to the full spectrum of pregnancy: during the pregnancy, labor and delivery, after the newborn's delivery, and the mother's recovery after giving birth. This cost elimination would apply to all group or individual health insurance plans.

2. What exactly will be covered?

   • Prenatal care: Ultrasounds by licensed providers and services related to pregnancy loss or miscarriage.

   • Childbirth: Labor and delivery services, anesthesiology, fetal monitoring, specialist consultations, and immediate postpartum care.

   • Postpartum care: The bill defined the postpartum period as the full one year period starting immediately after pregnancy ends and proposes coverage for non-preventive care including behavioral health services addressing pregnancy exacerbated or pregnancy related conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.

   • Behavioral health services for non-birthing parents: Behavioral health support for legal parents who did not physically give birth for up to one year after the child’s birth.

     
     

3. Amendment to Current Acts: The bill updates the Affordable Care Act to make sure prenatal, childbirth, and postpartum care are treated as essential health benefits. It also updates other federal laws (Public Health Service Act, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and Internal Revenue Code of 1986) to apply the same protections across different types of insurance plans.

What are the impacts?

• Lower medical bills as a result of the elimination of cost sharing helping relieve some financial stress allowing the funds to be diverted to other parts of child care

• Help close a critical gap in care, when care is affordable, people are more likely to go to checkups, screenings, and postpartum visits

• Improved maternal and neonatal health outcomes

• Removes a financial barrier that especially harms maternal health for lower-income families and communities of color

• Standardizing what’s covered makes it harder for insurance companies or providers to profit unfairly from maternity services

What does this show?

• There is more room for innovation!

• With proposed expanded coverage, you can help advocate for coverage for other support services, including nutrition counseling, lactation support, and community support groups

• Shows that reforms are possible and you can help open the door to other changes such as but are not limited to:

  • Providing packages of supplies after a child's birth that includes diapers, breast pumps, postpartum recovery items, and more

  • The U.S. is one of the only high-income countries without guaranteed paid maternity leave. Future reforms should ensure that all families can take needed time off without risking their financial stability

  • Expanding postpartum care beyond traditional medical visits to better support parents and children

What can you do?

1. Phone bank: Contact your Senator and Representative to express support for the bill. You can also ask them to expand the bill to include other services. To make this the most impactful, share personal stories and challenges. You can call them, email their office, or even reach out to them through social media.

2. Share information about the bill with your friends, family, and other people you know. Talk about the bill's implications, gaps, and more.

3. Engage with advocacy organizations such as the March of Dimes and American Hospital Association, do your research on an advocacy organization that aligns with your values

4. Stay informed on the bill as it progresses, you can subscribe to congress.gov if you wish to do so