I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6141 
To improve maternity care coordination provided by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 9, 2020 
Ms. UNDERWOOD (for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, and Ms. ADAMS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To improve maternity care coordination provided by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Moms Who 
Served Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR MATERNITY CARE COORDINATION. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 to improve ma-
ternity care coordination for women veterans throughout 
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pregnancy and the one-year postpartum period beginning 
on the last day of the pregnancy. Such amounts are au-
thorized in addition to any other amounts authorized for 
such purpose. 
(b) PLAN.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 
Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representa-
tives a plan to improve maternity care coordination 
to fulfill the responsibilities and requirements de-
scribed in the Veterans Health Administration 
Handbook 1330.03, or any successor handbook. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—The plan under paragraph (1) 
shall include the following: 
(A) With respect to the amounts author-
ized to be appropriated by subsection (a), a de-
scription of how the Secretary will ensure such 
amounts are used to— 
(i) hire full-time maternity care coor-
dinators; 
(ii) train maternity care coordinators; 
and 
(iii) improve support programs led by 
maternity care coordinators. 
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(B) Recommendations for the amount of 
funding the Secretary determines appropriate to 
improve maternity care coordination as de-
scribed in paragraph (1) for each of the five fis-
cal years following the date of the plan. 
(3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall de-
velop the plan under paragraph (1) in consultation 
with veterans service organizations, military service 
organizations, women’s health care providers, and 
community-based organizations representing women 
from demographic groups disproportionately im-
pacted by poor maternal health outcomes, that the 
Secretary determines appropriate. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON VETERAN STATUS RE-
QUIREMENTS. 
It is the sense of Congress that each State should 
list the veteran status of a mother— 
(1) in fetal death records; and 
(2) in maternal mortality review committee re-
views of pregnancy-related deaths and pregnancy-as-
sociated deaths. 
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SEC. 4. REPORT ON MATERNAL MORTALITY AND SEVERE 
MATERNAL MORBIDITY AMONG WOMEN VET-
ERANS. 
(a) GAO REPORT.—Not later than two years after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall submit to the Commit-
tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the House of 
Representatives, and make publicly available, a report on 
maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity among 
women veterans, with a particular focus on racial and eth-
nic disparities in maternal health outcomes for women vet-
erans. 
(b) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The report under sub-
section (a) shall include the following: 
(1) To the extent practicable— 
(A) the number of women veterans who 
have experienced a pregnancy-related death or 
pregnancy-associated death in the most recent 
10 years of available data; 
(B) the rate of pregnancy-related deaths 
per 100,000 live births for women veterans; 
(C) the number of cases of severe maternal 
morbidity among women veterans in the most 
recent year of available data; 
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(D) the racial and ethnic disparities in ma-
ternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity 
rates among women veterans; 
(E) identification of the causes of maternal 
mortality and severe maternal morbidity that 
are unique to women who have served in the 
military, including post-traumatic stress dis-
order, military sexual trauma, and infertility or 
miscarriages that may be caused by such serv-
ice; 
(F) identification of the causes of maternal 
mortality and severe maternal morbidity that 
are unique to women veterans of color; and 
(G) identification of any correlations be-
tween the former rank of women veterans and 
their maternal health outcomes. 
(2) An assessment of the barriers to deter-
mining the information required under paragraph 
(1) and recommendations for improvements in track-
ing maternal health outcomes among— 
(A) women veterans who have health care 
coverage through the Department; 
(B) women veterans enrolled in the 
TRICARE program; 
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(C) women veterans with employer-based 
or private insurance; and 
(D) women veterans enrolled in the Med-
icaid program. 
(3) Recommendations for legislative and admin-
istrative actions to increase access to mental and be-
havioral health care for women veterans who screen 
positively for postpartum mental or behavioral 
health conditions. 
(4) Recommendations to address homelessness 
among pregnant and postpartum women veterans. 
(5) Recommendations on how to effectively edu-
cate maternity care providers on best practices for 
providing maternity care services to women veterans 
that addresses the unique maternal health care 
needs of veteran populations. 
(6) Recommendations to reduce maternal mor-
tality and severe maternal morbidity among women 
veterans and to address racial and ethnic disparities 
in maternal health outcomes for each of the groups 
described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of para-
graph (2). 
(7) Recommendations to improve coordination 
of care between the Department and non-Depart-
ment facilities for pregnant and postpartum women 
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