research purposes by State health departments, ma-
ternal mortality review committees, and health pro-
viders and institutions. 
‘‘(3) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.—In 
no case shall any individually identifiable health in-
formation be provided to the public, or submitted to 
the information clearinghouse, under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIALITY
OF REVIEW COMMITTEE 
PROCEEDINGS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All proceedings and activi-
ties of a State maternal mortality review committee 
under this section, opinions of members of such a 
committee formed as a result of such proceedings 
and activities, and records obtained, created, or 
maintained pursuant to this section, including 
records of interviews, written reports, and state-
ments procured by the Department of Health and 
Human Services or by any other person, agency, or 
organization acting jointly with the Department, in 
connection with morbidity and mortality reviews 
under this section, shall be confidential, and not sub-
ject to discovery, subpoena, or introduction into evi-
dence in any civil, criminal, legislative, or other pro-
ceeding. Such records shall not be open to public in-
spection. 
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‘‘(2) TESTIMONY
OF
MEMBERS
OF
COM-
MITTEE.— 
‘‘(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 
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used to ultimately identify the individuals con-
cerned. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) 
PREGNANCY-ASSOCIATED
DEATH.—The 
term ‘pregnancy-associated death’ means the death 
of a woman while pregnant or during the one-year 
period following the date of the end of pregnancy, ir-
respective of the cause of such death. 
‘‘(2) PREGNANCY-RELATED DEATH.—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, irrespec-
tive 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) WOMAN
OF
CHILDBEARING
AGE.—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.’’. 
(c) NIH WORKSHOP AND RESEARCH PLAN DEVEL-
OPMENT ON SEVERE MATERNAL MORBIDITY.— 
(1) WORKSHOP.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, acting through the Director of 
NIH and in consultation with the Administrator of 
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the Health Resources and Services Administration, 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, the heads of other Federal agencies that 
administer Federal health programs, and relevant 
national professional organizations dealing with ma-
ternal morbidity, shall organize a national workshop 
to identify definitions for severe maternal morbidity 
and make recommendations for a research plan to 
identify and monitor severe maternal morbidity in 
the United States. 
(2) RESEARCH PLAN AND DATA COLLECTION 
PROTOCOLS.—The Secretary, taking into account 
the findings of the workshop under paragraph (1), 
shall develop uniform definitions of severe maternal 
morbidity, a research plan on severe maternal mor-
bidity, and possible data collection protocols to assist 
States in identifying and monitoring cases of severe 
maternal morbidity and to develop recommendations 
on addressing such cases. 
(3) 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 concerning the definitions and re-
search plan developed under this section. 
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(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 
year 2016— 
(A) $50,000 to carry out paragraph (1); 
and 
(B) $100,000 to carry out paragraph (2). 
(d) ELIMINATING
DISPARITIES
IN
MATERNITY 
HEALTH OUTCOMES.—Part B of title III of the Public 
Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 
317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–22) 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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