II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2779 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment 

of a Task Force on Maternal Mental Health, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

the establishment of a Task Force on Maternal Mental 

Health, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taskforce Recom5 mending Improvements for Unaddressed Mental Perinatal 

6 & Postpartum Health for New Moms Act of 2021’’ or the 

7 ‘‘TRIUMPH for New Moms Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TASK FORCE ON MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH. 

2 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec4 tion 317L–1 (42 U.S.C. 247b–13a) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 317L–2. TASK FORCE ON MATERNAL MENTAL 

6 HEALTH. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

8 the date of enactment of the Taskforce Recommending 

9 Improvements for Unaddressed Mental Perinatal & 

10 Postpartum Health for New Moms Act of 2021, the Sec11 retary shall establish a task force, to be known as the Task 

12 Force on Maternal Mental Health (in this section referred 

13 to as the ‘Task Force’), to identify, evaluate, and make 

14 recommendations to coordinate and improve Federal re15 sponses to maternal mental health conditions. 

16 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

17 ‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall be 

18 composed of— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Assistant Secretary for Health of 

20 the Department of Health and Human Services 

21 (or the Assistant Secretary’s designee) who 

22 shall serve as the Chair of the Task Force; 

23 ‘‘(B) the Federal members under para24 graph (2); and 

25 ‘‘(C) the non-Federal members under para26 graph (3). 


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1 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL MEMBERS.—In addition to the 

2 Assistant Secretary for Health, the Federal mem3 bers of the Task Force shall consist of the heads of 

4 the following Federal departments and agencies (or 

5 their designees): 

6 ‘‘(A) The Administration for Children and 

7 Families. 

8 ‘‘(B) The Agency for Healthcare Research 

9 and Quality. 

10 ‘‘(C) The Centers for Disease Control and 

11 Prevention. 

12 ‘‘(D) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

13 Services. 

14 ‘‘(E) The Health Resources and Services 

15 Administration. 

16 ‘‘(F) The Food and Drug Administration. 

17 ‘‘(G) The Indian Health Service. 

18 ‘‘(H) The Office of the Assistant Secretary 

19 for Planning and Evaluation of the Department 

20 of Health and Human Services. 

21 ‘‘(I) The Office of Minority Health of the 

22 Department of Health and Human Services. 

23 ‘‘(J) The Office of the Surgeon General of 

24 the Department of Health and Human Services. 


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1 ‘‘(K) The Office of Women’s Health of the 

2 Department of Health and Human Services. 

3 ‘‘(L) The National Institutes of Health. 

4 ‘‘(M) The Substance Abuse and Mental 

5 Health Services Administration. 

6 ‘‘(N) Such other Federal departments and 

7 agencies that serve individuals with maternal 

8 mental health conditions as the Secretary deter9 mines appropriate, such as the Department of 

10 Veterans Affairs, the Department of Justice, 

11 the Department of Labor, the Department of 

12 Housing and Urban Development, and the De13 partment of Defense. 

14 ‘‘(3) NON-FEDERAL MEMBERS.—The non-Fed15 eral members of the Task Force shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) compose not more than one-half, and 

17 not less than one-third, of the total membership 

18 of the Task Force; 

19 ‘‘(B) be appointed by the Secretary; and 

20 ‘‘(C) include— 

21 ‘‘(i) representatives of medical soci22 eties with expertise in maternal mental 

23 health or maternal health and mental 

24 health; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) representatives of nonprofit orga2 nizations with expertise in maternal mental 

3 health or maternal health and mental 

4 health; 

5 ‘‘(iii) at least one individual who has 

6 received a diagnosis of a maternal mental 

7 health condition; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) other representatives, as appro9 priate. 

10 ‘‘(4) DEADLINE FOR DESIGNATING DES11 IGNEES.—If the Assistant Secretary for Health, or 

12 the head of a Federal department or agency serving 

13 as a member of the Task Force under paragraph 

14 (2), chooses to be represented on the Task Force by 

15 a designee, the Assistant Secretary or head shall 

16 designate such designee not later than 90 days after 

17 the date of the enactment of the Taskforce Recom18 mending Improvements for Unaddressed Mental 

19 Perinatal & Postpartum Health for New Moms Act 

20 of 2021. 

21 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) create and regularly update a report that 

23 identifies, analyzes, and evaluates the state of na24 tional maternal mental health policy and programs 


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1 at the Federal, State, and local levels, and identifies 

2 best practices including— 

3 ‘‘(A) a set of evidence-based, evidence-in4 formed, and promising practices with respect 

5 to— 

6 ‘‘(i) prevention strategies for maternal 

7 mental health conditions, including strate8 gies and recommendations to address so9 cial determinants of health; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the identification, screening, di11 agnosis, and treatment of, and intervention 

12 with respect to, maternal mental health 

13 conditions, including with respect to af14 fected families; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the expeditious referral to, and 

16 implementation of, practices and supports 

17 that prevent and mitigate the effects of a 

18 maternal mental health condition, includ19 ing strategies and recommendations to 

20 eliminate the racial and ethnic disparities 

21 that exist in maternal mental health; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) community-based or multigener23 ational practices that provide support re24 lating to maternal mental health condiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Sep 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2779.IS S2779

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1 tions, including support for affected fami2 lies; and 

3 ‘‘(B) Federal and State programs and ac4 tivities to prevent, screen, diagnose, intervene, 

5 and treat maternal mental health conditions; 

6 ‘‘(2) develop and regularly update a national 

7 strategy for maternal mental health, taking into con8 sideration the findings of the reports under para9 graph (1), on how the Task Force and Federal de10 partments and agencies represented on the Task 

11 Force will prioritize options for, and implement a co12 ordinated approach to, addressing maternal mental 

13 health conditions, including by— 

14 ‘‘(A) increasing prevention, screening, di15 agnosis, intervention, treatment, and access to 

16 care, including clinical and nonclinical care such 

17 as peer-support and community health workers, 

18 through the public and private sectors; 

19 ‘‘(B) providing support relating to the pre20 vention or treatment of mental health condi21 tions, including, as appropriate, support for 

22 families; 

23 ‘‘(C) reducing racial, ethnic, geographic, 

24 and other health disparities for prevention, diVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Sep 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2779.IS S2779

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1 agnosis, intervention, treatment, and access to 

2 maternal mental health care; 

3 ‘‘(D) identifying opportunities for local4 and State-level partnerships; 

5 ‘‘(E) identifying options for modifying, 

6 strengthening, and coordinating Federal pro7 grams and activities, including existing infant 

8 and maternity programs, such as the Medicaid 

9 program under title XIX of the Social Security 

10 Act and the State Children’s Health Insurance 

11 Program under title XXI of such Act, in order 

12 to increase research, prevention, identification, 

13 intervention, and treatment with respect to ma14 ternal mental health; 

15 ‘‘(F) providing recommendations to ensure 

16 research, services, supports, and prevention ac17 tivities are not unnecessarily duplicative; and 

18 ‘‘(G) planning, data sharing, and commu19 nication within and across Federal depart20 ments, agencies, offices, and programs; and 

21 ‘‘(3) solicit public comments from stakeholders 

22 for the report under paragraph (1) and the national 

23 strategy under paragraph (2), including comments 

24 from frontline service providers, mental health pro25 fessionals, researchers, experts in maternal mental 


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1 health, institutions of higher education, public health 

2 agencies (including maternal and child health pro3 grams), and industry representatives, in order to in4 form the activities and reports of the Task Force. 

5 ‘‘(d) MEETINGS.—The Task Force shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) meet not less than 2 times each year; and 

7 ‘‘(2) convene public meetings, as appropriate, to 

8 fulfill its duties under this section. 

9 ‘‘(e) REPORTS TO PUBLIC AND FEDERAL LEAD10 ERS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall make 

12 publicly available and submit to the heads of rel13 evant Federal departments and agencies, the Com14 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

15 Representatives, the Committee on Health, Edu16 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and other 

17 relevant congressional committees, the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) Not later than 1 year after the first 

19 meeting of the Task Force, an initial report 

20 under subsection (c)(1). 

21 ‘‘(B) Not later than 2 years after the first 

22 meeting of the Task Force, an initial national 

23 strategy under subsection (c)(2). 

24 ‘‘(C) Each year thereafter— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an updated report under sub2 section (c)(1); 

3 ‘‘(ii) an updated national strategy 

4 under subsection (c)(2); or 

5 ‘‘(iii) if no such update is made, a re6 port summarizing the activities of the Task 

7 Force. 

8 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The Task Force shall en9 sure that reports under this section include data on 

10 demographic characteristics, in a de-identified and 

11 disaggregated manner, including with respect to 

12 race, ethnicity, age, sex, geographic region, marital 

13 status, socioeconomic status, and other relevant fac14 tors. 

15 ‘‘(f) REPORTS TO GOVERNORS.—Upon finalizing the 

16 initial national strategy under subsection (c)(2), and upon 

17 making relevant updates to such strategy, the Task Force 

18 shall submit a report to the Governors of all States de19 scribing opportunities for local- and State-level partner20 ships identified under subsection (c)(2)(D). 

21 ‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘mater22 nal mental health condition’ means a mental health dis23 order that onsets during the pregnancy or within one year 

24 of the postpartum or perinatal period, including all preg25 nancy outcomes. 


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1 ‘‘(h) SUNSET.—The Task Force shall terminate on 

2 the date that is 6 years after the date on which the Task 

3 Force is established under subsection (a).’’. 

Æ 


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