Amends the Public Health Service Act to fund training, collaboration, and equipment for emergency prenatal, labor, birthing, and postpartum care in rural hospitals and clinics that lack dedicated obstetric units, and extends related telehealth programs through fiscal year 2031.

Official title: Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act

Next stop Senate floor: awaiting a vote

Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions

Senate

Introduced 04-FEB-2025

Referred 04-FEB-2025

Approved by committee 22-JUL-2026

Reported 28-JUL-2026

On the calendar 28-JUL-2026

Key points

Directs grants for training professionals in rural facilities without dedicated obstetric units to stabilize patients and transfer them when needed during pregnancy, labor, birth, and the postpartum period.
Authorizes $15,000,000 and $17,300,000 for each of fiscal years 2028 through 2032 for these rural obstetric programs.
Expands telehealth network grants to cover prenatal, labor, birthing, and postpartum care, and extends their authorization through fiscal year 2031.
Adds a study of maternity ward closures and patient transport patterns to the reports the Secretary submits, starting in 2028 and every two years after.

AI-generated from the Reported to Senate text of 28-JUL-2026 · verify · report an error

Official CRS summary

Covers an older version. The newest CRS summary describes the bill as of "Introduced in Senate" (04-FEB-2025); the text has changed since (Reported to Senate, 28-JUL-2026).

CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.gov

Committee referrals (1)

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (Senate)

Policy area

Health

Sponsor Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH) Cosponsors · 7

■ 4 R■ 3 D

4 Republicans

3 Democrats

congress.gov page Reported to Senate (28-JUL-2026) Introduced in Senate (04-FEB-2025)