Maintaining our Obligation to Moms who Serve Act or the MOMS Act
This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a pilot program within military medical treatment facilities to assess the feasibility and impact of providing evidence-based prevention programs for perinatal mental health conditions to pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries.
DOD must (1) establish an advisory committee to assist in the implementation of the pilot program, and (2) study the effectiveness of the pilot program in preventing or reducing the onset of symptoms of perinatal mental health conditions.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7087 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7087
To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program for
evidence-based perinatal mental health prevention for pregnant and
postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 25, 2024
Ms. Houlahan (for herself and Mr. Bacon) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program for
evidence-based perinatal mental health prevention for pregnant and
postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Maintaining our Obligation to Moms
who Serve Act'' or the ``MOMS Act''.
SEC. 2. PREVENTING PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS IN PREGNANT AND
POSTPARTUM MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND BENEFICIARIES
TO IMPROVE MILITARY READINESS.
(a) Pilot Program.--
(1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, acting
through the Defense Health Agency, shall establish a pilot
program to assess the feasibility and impact of providing
evidence-based perinatal mental health prevention programs for
pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and
beneficiaries in military medical treatment facilities with the
goal of reducing the rates of perinatal mental health
conditions and improving the military readiness of such members
and their families.
(2) Requirements.--Pursuant to the pilot program, the
Secretary shall carry out the following:
(A) Integrate the evidence-based perinatal mental
health prevention programs for pregnant and postpartum
members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries within
existing maternal or pediatric care or programming such
as primary care, obstetric care, pediatric care, or
family or parenting programs, when applicable.
(B) Select pilot sites in a manner to represent the
diversity amongst the Armed Force including--
(i) at least two military medical treatment
facilities per Armed Force;
(ii) geographically diverse sites across
the United States and outside of the
continental United States; and
(iii) prioritization of military medical
treatment facilities with established maternal
health programs or Women's Clinics.
(C) Implement the prevention programs at times,
locations, and structured in a manner that incentivizes
participation by pregnant and postpartum members of the
Armed Forces and beneficiaries, including removing
barriers for member and beneficiary participation such
as childcare availability, differences in rank and
military occupational specialty, and any other factor
the Secretary determines.
(D) Increase awareness of and encourage
participation in care or programming for pregnant and
postpartum members of the Armed Forces and
beneficiaries as described in subparagraph (A).
(b) Advisory Committee.--
(1) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
establish an advisory committee to assist the Department of
Defense in carrying out the requirements under this section.
(2) Members.--The Secretary shall select the members of the
advisory committee including the following:
(A) Members of the Armed Forces or beneficiaries--
(i) who are or have experienced perinatal
care in the previous five years while in the
service;
(ii) represent various branches and ranks
within the Armed Forces; and
(iii) preference for members of the Armed
Forces or beneficiaries who experienced a
perinatal mental health condition.
(B) Representatives of military and veterans
service organizations.
(C) Experts in perinatal mental health promotion,
prevention, and intervention.
(D) Representatives from the Federal Maternal
Mental Health Hotline and related perinatal mental
health programs.
(3) Duties.--The advisory committee shall guide the
Secretary through the implementation of the requirements under
this section by providing recommendations to the Secretary on
the following items:
(A) Identification of evidence-based perinatal
prevention programs.
(B) Strategies to increase participation amongst a
diverse group of pregnant and postpartum members of the
Armed Forces and beneficiaries.
(C) Outreach to eligible pregnant and postpartum
members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries on the
benefits of prevention and availability of pilot
program participation.
(D) Strategies to reduce stigma amongst members of
the Armed Forces and beneficiaries about perinatal
mental health conditions and the use of prevention
programs.
(c) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary shall provide technical
assistance to military medical treatment facilities in implementing
evidence-based perinatal prevention programs under subsection (a) and
outside of this pilot program.
(d) Study.--The Secretary shall conduct a study of the
effectiveness of the pilot program under subsection (a) in preventing
or reducing the onset of symptoms of perinatal mental health conditions
amongst pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and
beneficiaries.
(e) Reports.--
(1) Annual report.--The Secretary shall submit to the
Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of
Representatives an annual report on the progress of the pilot
program administered under subsection (a) for the year covered
by the report, including the number of pregnant and postpartum
members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries completing the
evidence-based prevention program broken out by type of
prevention program, military service, military occupational
specialty, rank, marital status, birth setting of delivery,
sex, age, race, and ethnicity.
(2) Final report.--The Secretary shall submit a final
report to the Congressional Defense Committees, and make sure
report available to the public, including--
(A) all elements within the annual report under
paragraph (1);
(B) an assessment and findings from the study in
subsection (d);
(C) recommendations on whether the model studied in
the pilot program should be continued or more widely
adopted by the Department; and
(D) recommendations on how to scale the pilot
program and ensure cost-effective sustainability.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are to be appropriated
to carry out this section, $5,000,000 for each fiscal year 2025 through
2029.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Perinatal mental health condition.--The term
``perinatal mental health condition'' means a mental health
disorder that onsets during the pregnancy or within the one-
year postpartum period.
(2) Prevention programs.--The term ``prevention programs''
means an activity shown to avert or decrease the onset or
symptoms of a perinatal mental health condition.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
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