I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2745 
To amend title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act to provide for 
a special enrollment period for pregnant women, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2017 
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, 
Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. 
CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 
DELANEY, Ms. DELBENE, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. ENGEL, 
Mr. EVANS, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. 
GARAMENDI, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, 
Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. 
KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. 
LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 
Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mrs. CAROLYN B. 
MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. 
MOORE, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. 
PINGREE, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. DAVID SCOTT 
of Georgia, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. TAKANO, 
Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. MAXINE 
WATERS of California, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. PETERS, and Ms. 
BLUNT ROCHESTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Ways and Means, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a 
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act 
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to provide for a special enrollment period for pregnant 
women, 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 ‘‘Healthy Maternity and 
Obstetric Medicine Act’’ or the ‘‘Healthy MOM Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Pregnancy is a significant life event for mil-
lions of women in the United States each year. 
(2) For more than 30 years, our Nation, 
through the Medicaid program, has recognized that 
pregnant women need immediate access to afford-
able care, and has allowed women who meet income- 
eligibility requirements to enroll in Medicaid cov-
erage when they become pregnant. 
(3) Congress recognized the central importance 
of maternity coverage by classifying maternity and 
newborn care as one of the ten essential health bene-
fits that must now be covered on most individual 
and small group health insurance plans under sec-
tion 1302(b)(1) of the Patient Protection and Af-
fordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18022(b)(1)). 
(4) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care 
Act has greatly increased access to affordable health 
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insurance coverage for women. Today, more than 
7,500,000 women have access to health insurance 
because of the law. That Act made it illegal to deny 
coverage based on pre-existing conditions, like preg-
nancy, or charge women more money for their pre-
miums. That Act also required women’s preventive 
services like birth control to be covered without cost 
sharing. 
(5) Access to comprehensive maternity coverage 
allows women to access important pregnancy-related 
care, which is demonstrated to improve health out-
comes for women and newborns and reduce financial 
costs for both consumers and insurers. 
(6) Uninsured women, women with grand-
fathered and transitional health plans, self-funded 
student health plans, and catastrophic and high-de-
ductible health plans may lack access to comprehen-
sive and affordable maternity coverage. 
(7) Employer health plans that exclude depend-
ent daughters from maternity coverage leave young 
women without coverage for their pregnancy, even 
though Federal law has long held that treating preg-
nancy differently than other conditions is sex-based 
discrimination. 
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