‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Members of a State 
maternal mortality review committee under this 
section may not be questioned in any civil, 
criminal, legislative, or other proceeding regard-
ing information presented in, or opinions 
formed as a result of, a meeting or communica-
tion of the committee. 
‘‘(B) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this 
subsection shall be construed to prevent a mem-
ber of such a committee from testifying regard-
ing information that was obtained independent 
of such member’s participation on the com-
mittee, or that is public information. 
‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION FOR RE-
SEARCH
PURPOSES.—Nothing in this subsection 
shall prohibit the publishing by such a committee or 
the Department of Health and Human Services of 
statistical compilations and research reports that— 
‘‘(A) are based on confidential information, 
relating to morbidity and mortality review; and 
‘‘(B) do not contain identifying informa-
tion or any other information that could be 
used to ultimately identify the individuals con-
cerned. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
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‘‘(1) The term ‘pregnancy-associated death’ 
means the death of a woman while pregnant or dur-
ing the one-year period following the date of the end 
of pregnancy, irrespective of the cause of such death. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘pregnancy-related death’ means 
the death of a woman while pregnant or during the 
one-year period following the date of the end of 
pregnancy, irrespective of the duration or site of the 
pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated 
by the pregnancy or its management, but not from 
any accidental or incidental cause. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘woman of childbearing age’ 
means a woman who is at least 10 years of age and 
not more than 54 years of age.’’. 
(b) INCLUSION OF FINDINGS OF REVIEW COMMIT-
TEES IN REQUIRED REPORTS.— 
(1) STATE
TRIENNIAL
REPORTS.—Paragraph 
(2) of section 506(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 706(a)) 
is amended by inserting after subparagraph (E) the 
following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) In the case of a State receiving a 
grant under section 514, beginning for the first 
fiscal year beginning after 3 years after the 
date of establishment of the State maternal 
mortality review committee established by the 
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State pursuant to such grant and once every 3 
years thereafter, information containing the 
findings and recommendations of such com-
mittee and information on the implementation 
of such recommendations during the period in-
volved.’’. 
(2) ANNUAL
REPORTS
TO
CONGRESS.—Para-
graph (3) of such section is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (D), at the end, by 
striking ‘‘and’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (E), at the end, by 
striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) For fiscal year 2012 and each subse-
quent fiscal year, taking into account the find-
ings, recommendations, and implementation in-
formation submitted by States pursuant to 
paragraph (2)(F), on the status of pregnancy- 
related deaths and pregnancy-associated deaths 
in the United States and including rec-
ommendations on methods to prevent such 
deaths in the United States.’’. 
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SEC. 4. NIH WORKSHOP AND RESEARCH PLAN DEVELOP-
MENT ON SEVERE MATERNAL MORBIDITY. 
(a) WORKSHOP.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, acting through the Director of NIH and 
in consultation with the Administrator of the Health Re-
sources and Services Administration, the Director of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the heads of 
other Federal agencies that administer Federal health pro-
grams, and relevant national professional organizations 
dealing with maternal morbidity, shall organize a national 
workshop to identify definitions for severe maternal mor-
bidity and make recommendations for a research plan to 
identify and monitor severe maternal morbidity in the 
United States. 
(b) RESEARCH PLAN AND DATA COLLECTION PRO-
TOCOLS.—The Secretary, taking into account the findings 
of the workshop under paragraph (1), shall develop uni-
form definitions of severe maternal morbidity, a research 
plan on severe maternal morbidity, and possible data col-
lection protocols to assist States in identifying and moni-
toring cases of severe maternal morbidity and to develop 
recommendations on addressing such cases. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare and 
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
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concerning the definitions and research plan developed 
under this section. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2012— 
(1) $50,000 to carry out subsection (a); and 
(2) $100,000 to carry out subsection (b). 
SEC. 5. ELIMINATING DISPARITIES IN MATERNITY HEALTH 
OUTCOMES. 
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
is amended by inserting after section 317T the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 317U. ELIMINATING DISPARITIES IN MATERNITY 
HEALTH OUTCOMES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in consulta-
tion with relevant national stakeholder organizations, such 
as national medical specialty organizations, national ma-
ternal child health organizations, and national health dis-
parity organizations, carry out the following activities to 
eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes: 
‘‘(1) 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 infrastruc-
ture to measure such disparities. 
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‘‘(2) Expand access to services that have been 
demonstrated to improve the quality and outcomes 
of maternity care for vulnerable populations. 
‘‘(3) Establish a demonstration project to com-
pare the effectiveness of interventions to reduce dis-
parities in maternity services and outcomes, and im-
plement and assessing effective interventions. 
‘‘(b) SCOPE AND SELECTION OF STATES FOR DEM-
ONSTRATION
PROJECT.—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— 
‘‘(1) applications submitted by States, which 
specify which regions and populations the State in-
volved will serve under the demonstration project; 
‘‘(2) criteria designed by the Secretary to en-
sure that, as a whole, the demonstration project is, 
to the greatest extent possible, representative of the 
demographic and geographic composition of commu-
nities most affected by disparities; 
‘‘(3) criteria designed by the Secretary to en-
sure that a variety of type of models are tested 
through the demonstration project and that such 
models include interventions that have an existing 
evidence base for effectiveness; and 
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‘‘(4) criteria designed by the Secretary to as-
sure 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 rep-
resenting providers of maternity services. 
‘‘(c) DURATION
OF DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.— 
The demonstration project under subsection (a)(3) shall 
begin on January 1, 2012, and end on December 31, 
2016. 
‘‘(d) GRANTS FOR EVALUATION AND MONITORING.— 
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 nec-
essary for the evaluation and monitoring of such project. 
‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) STATE REPORTS.—Each State that par-
ticipates in the demonstration project under sub-
section (a)(3) shall report to the Secretary, in a 
time, form, and manner specified by the Secretary, 
the data necessary to— 
‘‘(A) monitor the— 
‘‘(i) outcomes of the project; 
‘‘(ii) costs of the project; and 
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‘‘(iii) quality of maternity care pro-
vided under the project; and 
‘‘(B) evaluate the rationale for the selec-
tion of the items and services included in any 
bundled payment made by the State under the 
project. 
‘‘(2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than December 
31, 2017, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
report on the results of the demonstration project 
under subsection (a)(3).’’. 
Æ 
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