[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4217 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4217

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment 
   of a Task Force on Maternal Mental Health, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 29, 2021

 Ms. Barragan (for herself, Mr. Bucshon, Ms. Blunt Rochester, and Mrs. 
Kim of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment 
   of a Task Force on Maternal Mental Health, 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 ``Taskforce Recommending Improvements 
for Unaddressed Mental Perinatal & Postpartum Health for New Moms Act 
of 2021'' or the ``TRIUMPH for New Moms Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. TASK FORCE ON MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH.

    Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 317L-1 (42 U.S.C. 247b-
13a) the following:

``SEC. 317L-2. TASK FORCE ON MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH.

    ``(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
enactment of the TRIUMPH for New Moms Act of 2021, the Secretary shall 
establish a task force, to be known as the Task Force on Maternal 
Mental Health (in this section referred to as the `Task Force') to 
identify, evaluate, and make recommendations to coordinate and improve, 
Federal responses to maternal mental health conditions.
    ``(b) Membership.--
            ``(1) Composition.--The Task Force shall be composed of--
                    ``(A) the Assistant Secretary for Health of the 
                Department of Health and Human Services (or the 
                Assistant Secretary's designee) who shall serve as the 
                Chair of the Task Force;
                    ``(B) the Federal members under paragraph (2); and
                    ``(C) the non-Federal members under paragraph (3).
            ``(2) Federal members.--In addition to the Assistant 
        Secretary for Health, the Federal members of the Task Force 
        shall consist of the heads of the following Federal departments 
        and agencies (or their designees):
                    ``(A) The Administration for Children and Families.
                    ``(B) The Agency for Healthcare Research and 
                Quality.
                    ``(C) The Centers for Disease Control and 
                Prevention.
                    ``(D) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
                    ``(E) The Health Resources and Services 
                Administration.
                    ``(F) The Food and Drug Administration.
                    ``(G) The Indian Health Service.
                    ``(H) The Office of the Assistant Secretary for 
                Planning and Evaluation of the Department of Health and 
                Human Services.
                    ``(I) The Office of Minority Health of the 
                Department of Health and Human Services.
                    ``(J) The Office of the Surgeon General of the 
                Department of Health and Human Services.
                    ``(K) The Office of Women's Health of the 
                Department of Health and Human Services.
                    ``(L) The National Institutes of Health.
                    ``(M) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
                Services Administration.
                    ``(N) Such other Federal departments and agencies 
                as the Secretary determines that serve individuals with 
                maternal mental health conditions, such as the 
                Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of 
                Justice, the Department of Labor, the Department of 
                Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of 
                Defense.
            ``(3) Non-federal members.--The non-Federal members of the 
        Task Force shall--
                    ``(A) compose not more than one-half, and not less 
                than one-third, of the total membership of the Task 
                Force;
                    ``(B) be appointed by the Secretary; and
                    ``(C) include--
                            ``(i) representatives of medical societies 
                        with expertise in maternal or mental health;
                            ``(ii) representatives of nonprofit 
                        organizations with expertise in maternal or 
                        mental health;
                            ``(iii) relevant industry representatives; 
                        and
                            ``(iv) other representatives, as 
                        appropriate.
            ``(4) Deadline for designating designees.--If the Assistant 
        Secretary for Health, or the head of a Federal department or 
        agency serving as a member of the Task Force under paragraph 
        (2), chooses to be represented on the Task Force by a designee, 
        the Assistant Secretary or head shall designate such designee 
        not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the 
        TRIUMPH for New Moms Act of 2021.
    ``(c) Duties.--The Task Force shall--
            ``(1) create and regularly update a report that identifies, 
        analyzes, and evaluates the state of national maternal mental 
        health policy and programs at the Federal, State, and local 
        levels, and identifies best practices including--
                    ``(A) a set of evidence-based, evidence-informed, 
                and promising practices with respect to--
                            ``(i) prevention strategies for individuals 
                        at risk of experiencing a maternal mental 
                        health condition, including strategies and 
                        recommendations to address social determinants 
                        of health;
                            ``(ii) the identification, screening, 
                        diagnosis, intervention, and treatment of 
                        individuals and families affected by a maternal 
                        mental health condition;
                            ``(iii) the expeditious referral to, and 
                        implementation of, practices and supports that 
                        prevent and mitigate the effects of a maternal 
                        mental health condition, including strategies 
                        and recommendations to eliminate the racial and 
                        ethnic disparities that exist in maternal 
                        mental health; and
                            ``(iv) community-based or multigenerational 
                        practices that support individuals and families 
                        affected by a maternal mental health condition; 
                        and
                    ``(B) Federal and State programs and activities to 
                prevent, screen, diagnose, intervene, and treat 
                maternal mental health conditions;
            ``(2) develop and regularly update a national strategy for 
        maternal mental health, taking into consideration the findings 
        of the reports under paragraph (1), on how the Task Force and 
        Federal departments and agencies represented on the Task Force 
        will prioritize options for, and implement a coordinated 
        approach to, addressing maternal mental health conditions, 
        including by--
                    ``(A) increasing prevention, screening, diagnosis, 
                intervention, treatment, and access to care, including 
                clinical and nonclinical care such as peer-support and 
                community health workers, through the public and 
                private sectors;
                    ``(B) providing support for pregnant or postpartum 
                individuals who are at risk for or experiencing a 
                maternal mental health condition, and their families as 
                appropriate;
                    ``(C) reducing racial, ethnic, geographic, and 
                other health disparities for prevention, diagnosis, 
                intervention, treatment, and access to care;
                    ``(D) identifying opportunities for local- and 
                State-level partnerships;
                    ``(E) identifying options for modifying, 
                strengthening, and coordinating Federal programs and 
                activities, including existing infant and maternity 
                programs, such as the Medicaid program under title XIX 
                of the Social Security Act and the State Children's 
                Health Insurance Program under title XXI of such Act, 
                in order to increase research, prevention, 
                identification, intervention, and treatment with 
                respect to maternal mental health;
                    ``(F) providing recommendations to ensure research, 
                services, supports, and prevention activities are not 
                unnecessarily duplicative; and
                    ``(G) planning, data sharing, and communication 
                within and across Federal departments, agencies, 
                offices, and programs;
            ``(3) solicit public comments from stakeholders for the 
        report under paragraph (1) and the national strategy under 
        paragraph (2), including comments from frontline service 
        providers, mental health professionals, researchers, experts in 
        maternal mental health, institutions of higher education, 
        public health agencies (including maternal and child health 
        programs), and industry representatives, in order to inform the 
        activities and reports of the Task Force; and
            ``(4) disaggregate any data collected under this section by 
        race, ethnicity, geographical location, age, marital status, 
        socioeconomic level, and other factors as determined 
        appropriate by the Secretary.
    ``(d) Meetings.--The Task Force shall--
            ``(1) meet not less than two times each year; and
            ``(2) convene public meetings, as appropriate, to fulfill 
        its duties under this section.
    ``(e) Reports to Public and Federal Leaders.--The Task Force shall 
make publicly available and submit to the heads of relevant Federal 
departments and agencies, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions of the Senate, and other relevant congressional 
committees, the following:
            ``(1) Not later than 1 year after the first meeting of the 
        Task Force, an initial report under subsection (c)(1).
            ``(2) Not later than 2 years after the first meeting of the 
        Task Force, an initial national strategy under subsection 
        (c)(2).
            ``(3) Each year thereafter--
                    ``(A) an updated report under subsection (c)(1);
                    ``(B) an updated national strategy under subsection 
                (c)(2); or
                    ``(C) if no such update is made, a report 
                summarizing the activities of the Task Force.
    ``(f) Reports to Governors.--Upon finalizing the initial national 
strategy under subsection (c)(2), and upon making relevant updates to 
such strategy, the Task Force shall submit a report to the Governors of 
all States describing opportunities for local- and State-level 
partnerships identified under subsection (c)(2)(D).
    ``(g) Sunset.--The Task Force shall terminate on the date that is 6 
years after the date on which the Task Force is established under 
subsection (a).''.
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