I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1966 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 
the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, 
to award grants to expand and improve maternal health care services, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2025 
Ms. WATERS (for herself, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. 
BROWN, Mr. CARSON, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CLARKE of 
New York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. DEAN of 
Pennsylvania, 
Mr. 
DOGGETT, 
Mr. 
FIELDS, 
Mr. 
FIGURES, 
Mr. 
GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. MCIVER, Ms. NOR-
TON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SWALWELL, 
Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. VARGAS, 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
acting through the Administrator of the Health Re-
sources and Services Administration, to award grants 
to expand and improve maternal health care services, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:22 Mar 21, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1966.IH
H1966
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mamas and Babies 
in Underserved Communities Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. GRANTS TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE MATERNAL 
HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN UNDERSERVED 
COMMUNITIES. 
Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
241 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 317K 
of such Act (247b–12) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 317K–1. GRANTS TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE MATER-
NAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN UNDER-
SERVED COMMUNITIES. 
‘‘(a) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 
grants to eligible entities— 
‘‘(1) to expand maternal health care services, 
including prenatal care, postnatal care for infants, 
and postpartum care for mothers; 
‘‘(2) to improve the quality of such services; 
‘‘(3) to improve health outcomes for women and 
infants receiving such services; and 
‘‘(4) to reduce disparities in access to care, in 
the quality of services received, and in health out-
comes for women and infants in need of such serv-
ices. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this section, the term 
‘eligible entity’ means a public or nonprofit private health 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:22 Mar 21, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1966.IH
H1966
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
care provider that serves one or more minority, low-in-
come, or medically underserved communities. 
‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 
that, as determined by the Secretary— 
‘‘(1) primarily serve minority, low-income, or 
medically underserved communities; 
‘‘(2) are led by individuals who have lived, were 
educated, or currently reside in the communities 
served; and 
‘‘(3) are geographically located in the commu-
nities served. 
‘‘(d) CONDITIONS FOR RECEIVING GRANTS.—As a 
condition on receipt of a grant under this section, an eligi-
ble entity shall agree— 
‘‘(1) to provide the health care services sup-
ported through the grant in a culturally and linguis-
tically appropriate manner; and 
‘‘(2) to limit the percentage of grant funds used 
for administrative expenses to not more than 10 per-
cent. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec-
tion, an eligible entity shall submit an application at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information 
and assurances as the Secretary may require. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:22 Mar 21, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1966.IH
H1966
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(f) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall require 
grantees under this section— 
‘‘(1) to maximize the coordination of activities 
funded through this section with other federally 
funded maternal health care activities; and 
‘‘(2) to minimize the duplication of such activi-
ties. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘medically underserved commu-
nity’ has the meaning given to such term in section 
799B. 
‘‘(2) The terms ‘postnatal’ and ‘postpartum’ 
refer to the period of 12 months following an in-
fant’s birth. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro-
priated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 
2026 through 2030.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:22 Mar 21, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H1966.IH
H1966
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB