1 | 1 | | I |
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2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2730 |
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5 | 5 | | To include pregnancy and loss of pregnancy as qualifying life events under |
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6 | 6 | | the TRICARE program and to require a study on maternal health |
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7 | 7 | | in the military heath system, and for other purposes. |
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8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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9 | 9 | | APRIL8, 2025 |
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10 | 10 | | Ms. M |
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11 | 11 | | ACE(for herself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. WITTMAN, and Mr. TURNERof |
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12 | 12 | | Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
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13 | 13 | | on Armed Services |
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14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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15 | 15 | | To include pregnancy and loss of pregnancy as qualifying |
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16 | 16 | | life events under the TRICARE program and to require |
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17 | 17 | | a study on maternal health in the military heath system, |
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18 | 18 | | and for other purposes. |
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19 | 19 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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20 | 20 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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21 | 21 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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22 | 22 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Moms Act’’. 4 |
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23 | 23 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 5 |
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24 | 24 | | In this Act: 6 |
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25 | 25 | | (1) C |
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26 | 26 | | OVERED BENEFICIARY ; DEPENDENT; 7 |
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27 | 27 | | TRICARE PROGRAM .—The terms ‘‘covered bene-8 |
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30 | 30 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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31 | 31 | | ficiary’’, ‘‘dependent’’, and ‘‘TRICARE program’’ 1 |
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32 | 32 | | have the meanings given those terms in section 1072 2 |
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33 | 33 | | of title 10, United States Code. 3 |
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34 | 34 | | (2) M |
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35 | 35 | | ATERNAL HEALTH .—The term ‘‘maternal 4 |
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36 | 36 | | health’’ means care during labor, birthing, prenatal 5 |
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37 | 37 | | care, and postpartum care. 6 |
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38 | 38 | | (3) M |
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39 | 39 | | ATERNITY CARE DESERT .— The term 7 |
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40 | 40 | | ‘‘maternity care desert’’ means a county in the 8 |
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41 | 41 | | United States that does not have— 9 |
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42 | 42 | | (A) a hospital or birth center offering ob-10 |
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43 | 43 | | stetric care; or 11 |
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44 | 44 | | (B) an obstetric provider. 12 |
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45 | 45 | | (4) P |
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46 | 46 | | RENATAL CARE .—The term ‘‘prenatal 13 |
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47 | 47 | | care’’ means medical care provided to maintain and 14 |
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48 | 48 | | improve fetal and maternal health during pregnancy. 15 |
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49 | 49 | | (5) S |
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50 | 50 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 |
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51 | 51 | | the Secretary of Defense. 17 |
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52 | 52 | | SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF QUALIFYING LIFE EVENTS. 18 |
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53 | 53 | | (a) I |
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54 | 54 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 19 |
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55 | 55 | | date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 20 |
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56 | 56 | | (1) update the list of qualifying life events 21 |
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57 | 57 | | under the TRICARE program to include pregnancy 22 |
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58 | 58 | | and loss of pregnancy; and 23 |
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59 | 59 | | (2) issue guidance to covered beneficiaries de-24 |
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60 | 60 | | scribing the documentation required to make enroll-25 |
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63 | 63 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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64 | 64 | | ment changes under the TRICARE program due to 1 |
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65 | 65 | | such qualifying life events, such as written confirma-2 |
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66 | 66 | | tion from a medical provider confirming a pregnancy 3 |
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67 | 67 | | or loss of pregnancy. 4 |
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68 | 68 | | (b) P |
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69 | 69 | | ROHIBITION.—This section shall not apply to a 5 |
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70 | 70 | | covered beneficiary who seeks to claim an abortion as a 6 |
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71 | 71 | | qualifying life event. 7 |
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72 | 72 | | (c) D |
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73 | 73 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 |
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74 | 74 | | (1) A |
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75 | 75 | | BORTION.—The term ‘‘abortion’’ means 9 |
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76 | 76 | | the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, 10 |
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77 | 77 | | drug, or other substance or device to intentionally— 11 |
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78 | 78 | | (A) kill the unborn child of a woman 12 |
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79 | 79 | | known to be pregnant; or 13 |
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80 | 80 | | (B) prematurely terminate the pregnancy 14 |
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81 | 81 | | of a woman known to be pregnant, with an in-15 |
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82 | 82 | | tention other than to— 16 |
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83 | 83 | | (i) increase the probability of a live 17 |
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84 | 84 | | birth or preserve the life or health of the 18 |
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85 | 85 | | child after a live birth; 19 |
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86 | 86 | | (ii) remove a dead unborn child; or 20 |
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87 | 87 | | (iii) treat an ectopic pregnancy. 21 |
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88 | 88 | | (2) L |
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89 | 89 | | OSS OF PREGNANCY .—The term ‘‘loss of 22 |
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90 | 90 | | pregnancy’’ means miscarriage or stillbirth. 23 |
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93 | 93 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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94 | 94 | | SEC. 4. REPORT ON ACCESS TO MATERNAL HEALTH CARE 1 |
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95 | 95 | | WITHIN THE MILITARY HEALTH SYSTEM. 2 |
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96 | 96 | | (a) I |
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97 | 97 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than two years after the 3 |
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98 | 98 | | date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub-4 |
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99 | 99 | | mit to the Committee on Armed Services and the Com-5 |
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100 | 100 | | mittee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee 6 |
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101 | 101 | | on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations 7 |
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102 | 102 | | of the House of Representatives a report on access to ma-8 |
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103 | 103 | | ternal health care within the military health system for 9 |
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104 | 104 | | covered beneficiaries during the preceding two-year period. 10 |
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105 | 105 | | (b) C |
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106 | 106 | | ONTENTS.—The report required under sub-11 |
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107 | 107 | | section (a) shall include the following: 12 |
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108 | 108 | | (1) With respect to military medical treatment 13 |
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109 | 109 | | facilities, the following: 14 |
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110 | 110 | | (A) An analysis of the availability of ma-15 |
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111 | 111 | | ternal health care for covered beneficiaries who 16 |
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112 | 112 | | access the military health system through such 17 |
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113 | 113 | | facilities. 18 |
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114 | 114 | | (B) An identification of staffing shortages 19 |
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115 | 115 | | in positions relating to maternal health and 20 |
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116 | 116 | | childbirth, including obstetrician-gynecologists, 21 |
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117 | 117 | | certified nurse midwives, and labor and delivery 22 |
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118 | 118 | | nurses. 23 |
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119 | 119 | | (C) A description of specific challenges 24 |
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120 | 120 | | faced by covered beneficiaries in accessing ma-25 |
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121 | 121 | | ternal health care at such facilities. 26 |
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124 | 124 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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125 | 125 | | (D) An analysis of the timeliness of access 1 |
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126 | 126 | | to maternal health care, including wait times 2 |
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127 | 127 | | for and travel times to appointments. 3 |
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128 | 128 | | (E) A description of how such facilities 4 |
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129 | 129 | | track patient satisfaction with maternal health 5 |
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130 | 130 | | services. 6 |
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131 | 131 | | (F) A process to establish continuity of 7 |
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132 | 132 | | prenatal care and postpartum care for covered 8 |
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133 | 133 | | beneficiaries who experience a permanent 9 |
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134 | 134 | | change of station during a pregnancy. 10 |
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135 | 135 | | (G) An identification of barriers with re-11 |
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136 | 136 | | gard to continuity of prenatal care and 12 |
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137 | 137 | | postpartum care during permanent changes of 13 |
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138 | 138 | | station. 14 |
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139 | 139 | | (H) A description of military-specific 15 |
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140 | 140 | | health challenges impacting covered bene-16 |
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141 | 141 | | ficiaries who receive maternal health care at 17 |
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142 | 142 | | military medical treatment facilities, and a de-18 |
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143 | 143 | | scription of how the Department tracks such 19 |
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144 | 144 | | challenges. 20 |
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145 | 145 | | (I) For the 10-year period preceding the 21 |
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146 | 146 | | date of the submission of the report, the 22 |
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147 | 147 | | amount of funds annually expended— 23 |
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148 | 148 | | (i) by the Department of Defense on 24 |
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149 | 149 | | maternal health care; and 25 |
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152 | 152 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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153 | 153 | | (ii) by covered beneficiaries on out-of- 1 |
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154 | 154 | | pocket costs associated with maternal 2 |
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155 | 155 | | health care. 3 |
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156 | 156 | | (J) An identification of each medical facil-4 |
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157 | 157 | | ity of the Department of Defense located in a 5 |
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158 | 158 | | maternity care desert. 6 |
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159 | 159 | | (K) Recommendations and legislative pro-7 |
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160 | 160 | | posals— 8 |
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161 | 161 | | (i) to address staffing shortages that 9 |
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162 | 162 | | impact the positions described in subpara-10 |
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163 | 163 | | graph (B); 11 |
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164 | 164 | | (ii) to improve the delivery and avail-12 |
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165 | 165 | | ability of maternal health services through 13 |
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166 | 166 | | military medical treatment facilities and 14 |
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167 | 167 | | improve patient experience; and 15 |
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168 | 168 | | (iii) to improve continuity of prenatal 16 |
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169 | 169 | | care and postpartum care for covered bene-17 |
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170 | 170 | | ficiaries during a permanent change of sta-18 |
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171 | 171 | | tion. 19 |
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172 | 172 | | (2) With respect to providers within the 20 |
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173 | 173 | | TRICARE program network that are not located at 21 |
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174 | 174 | | or affiliated with a military medical treatment facil-22 |
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175 | 175 | | ity, the following: 23 |
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176 | 176 | | (A) An analysis of the availability of ma-24 |
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177 | 177 | | ternal health care for covered beneficiaries who 25 |
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180 | 180 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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181 | 181 | | access the military health system through such 1 |
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182 | 182 | | providers. 2 |
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183 | 183 | | (B) An identification of staffing shortages 3 |
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184 | 184 | | for such providers in positions relating to ma-4 |
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185 | 185 | | ternal health and childbirth, including obstetri-5 |
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186 | 186 | | cian-gynecologists, certified nurse midwives, and 6 |
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187 | 187 | | labor and delivery nurses. 7 |
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188 | 188 | | (C) A description of specific challenges 8 |
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189 | 189 | | faced by covered beneficiaries in accessing ma-9 |
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190 | 190 | | ternal health care from such providers. 10 |
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191 | 191 | | (D) An analysis of the timeliness of access 11 |
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192 | 192 | | to maternal health care, including wait times 12 |
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193 | 193 | | for and travel times to appointments. 13 |
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194 | 194 | | (E) A description of how such providers 14 |
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195 | 195 | | track patient satisfaction with maternal health 15 |
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196 | 196 | | services. 16 |
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197 | 197 | | (F) A process to establish continuity of 17 |
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198 | 198 | | prenatal care and postpartum care for covered 18 |
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199 | 199 | | beneficiaries who experience a permanent 19 |
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200 | 200 | | change of station during a pregnancy. 20 |
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201 | 201 | | (G) An identification of barriers with re-21 |
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202 | 202 | | gard to continuity of prenatal care and 22 |
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203 | 203 | | postpartum care during permanent changes of 23 |
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204 | 204 | | station. 24 |
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207 | 207 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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208 | 208 | | (H) The number of dependents who choose 1 |
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209 | 209 | | to access maternal health care through such 2 |
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210 | 210 | | providers. 3 |
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211 | 211 | | (I) For the 10-year period preceding the 4 |
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212 | 212 | | date of the submission of the report, the 5 |
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213 | 213 | | amount of funds annually expended— 6 |
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214 | 214 | | (i) by the Department of Defense on 7 |
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215 | 215 | | maternal health care; and 8 |
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216 | 216 | | (ii) by covered beneficiaries on out-of- 9 |
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217 | 217 | | pocket costs associated with maternal 10 |
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218 | 218 | | health care. 11 |
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219 | 219 | | (J) Recommendations and legislative pro-12 |
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220 | 220 | | posals— 13 |
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221 | 221 | | (i) to address staffing shortages that 14 |
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222 | 222 | | impact the positions described in subpara-15 |
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223 | 223 | | graph (B); 16 |
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224 | 224 | | (ii) to improve the delivery and avail-17 |
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225 | 225 | | ability of maternal health services through 18 |
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226 | 226 | | the TRICARE program and improve pa-19 |
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227 | 227 | | tient experience; 20 |
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228 | 228 | | (iii) to improve continuity of prenatal 21 |
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229 | 229 | | care and postpartum care for covered bene-22 |
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230 | 230 | | ficiaries during a permanent change of sta-23 |
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231 | 231 | | tion; and 24 |
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234 | 234 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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235 | 235 | | (iv) to improve the ability of contrac-1 |
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236 | 236 | | tors under the TRICARE program to build 2 |
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237 | 237 | | a larger network of providers for maternal 3 |
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238 | 238 | | health, including obstetrician-gynecologists, 4 |
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239 | 239 | | certified nurse midwives, and labor and de-5 |
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240 | 240 | | livery nurses. 6 |
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241 | 241 | | SEC. 5. UPDATES TO MILITARY ONESOURCE PROGRAM. 7 |
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242 | 242 | | (a) I |
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243 | 243 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 8 |
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244 | 244 | | date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pub-9 |
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245 | 245 | | lish on a publicly available website of the Military 10 |
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246 | 246 | | OneSource program of the Department of Defense a dedi-11 |
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247 | 247 | | cated webpage that includes a comprehensive guide of re-12 |
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248 | 248 | | sources available to covered beneficiaries, including— 13 |
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249 | 249 | | (1) a list of maternal health services that are 14 |
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250 | 250 | | available to covered beneficiaries under the 15 |
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251 | 251 | | TRICARE program and at military medical treat-16 |
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252 | 252 | | ment facilities; 17 |
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253 | 253 | | (2) information on mental health counseling, 18 |
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254 | 254 | | pregnancy counseling, and other prepartum and 19 |
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255 | 255 | | postpartum services, including what services are re-20 |
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256 | 256 | | portable or non-reportable for members of the 21 |
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257 | 257 | | Armed Forces; 22 |
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258 | 258 | | (3) information on prenatal development, in-23 |
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259 | 259 | | cluding anticipated prenatal appointments and avail-24 |
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262 | 262 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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263 | 263 | | able care for covered beneficiaries during prenatal 1 |
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264 | 264 | | development; 2 |
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265 | 265 | | (4) information on— 3 |
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266 | 266 | | (A) organizations that provide services and 4 |
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267 | 267 | | other resources to assist covered beneficiaries 5 |
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268 | 268 | | with maternal health needs and pregnancy sup-6 |
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269 | 269 | | port services located at, or in vicinity of, mili-7 |
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270 | 270 | | tary installations; and 8 |
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271 | 271 | | (B) Federal, State, and local maternal 9 |
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272 | 272 | | health care resources that are either covered by 10 |
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273 | 273 | | the TRICARE program or could otherwise be 11 |
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274 | 274 | | made available to a covered beneficiary; 12 |
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275 | 275 | | (5) information on resources to assist covered 13 |
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276 | 276 | | beneficiaries who are pregnant with anticipated 14 |
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277 | 277 | | changes and health challenges that result from preg-15 |
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278 | 278 | | nancy, including information on anticipated post-16 |
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279 | 279 | | natal appointments, available postnatal care for cov-17 |
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280 | 280 | | ered beneficiaries, and post-birth instructions spe-18 |
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281 | 281 | | cific to covered beneficiaries; 19 |
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282 | 282 | | (6) information on financial assistance available 20 |
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283 | 283 | | to covered beneficiaries to support pregnancy needs; 21 |
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284 | 284 | | (7) a best practice guide for smooth continuity 22 |
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285 | 285 | | of pregnancy care during a permanent change of 23 |
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286 | 286 | | station; and 24 |
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289 | 289 | | •HR 2730 IH |
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290 | 290 | | (8) information specific to pregnant members of 1 |
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291 | 291 | | the Armed Forces, including leave options and regu-2 |
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292 | 292 | | lations, career field specific information and restric-3 |
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293 | 293 | | tions, physical fitness requirements, and uniform re-4 |
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294 | 294 | | sources and requirements. 5 |
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295 | 295 | | (b) L |
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296 | 296 | | IMITATIONS.—The guide required by subsection 6 |
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297 | 297 | | (a) may not include information, references, or resources 7 |
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298 | 298 | | on abortion. 8 |
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299 | 299 | | (c) T |
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300 | 300 | | RAINING.—The Secretary shall provide training 9 |
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301 | 301 | | to military and family life counselors available through the 10 |
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302 | 302 | | Military OneSource program on addressing the non-med-11 |
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303 | 303 | | ical needs of covered beneficiaries who are pregnant. 12 |
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304 | 304 | | (d) N |
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305 | 305 | | OTIFICATION OFPREGNANCY.—The Secretary 13 |
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306 | 306 | | shall notify the head of the Military OneSource program 14 |
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307 | 307 | | when a covered beneficiary makes the Secretary aware of 15 |
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308 | 308 | | a pregnancy. 16 |
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309 | 309 | | (e) P |
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310 | 310 | | LAN.—Not later than 540 days after the date 17 |
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311 | 311 | | of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop 18 |
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312 | 312 | | and submit to Congress a plan for the Secretary to dis-19 |
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313 | 313 | | seminate to beneficiaries of the Military OneSource pro-20 |
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314 | 314 | | gram the guide required by subsection (a). 21 |
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315 | 315 | | Æ |
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