[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2779 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2779

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 21, 2021

Ms. Hassan (for herself and Mr. Tillis) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Taskforce Recommending Improvements for Unaddressed 
Mental Perinatal & Postpartum Health 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 
                that serve individuals with maternal mental health 
                conditions as the Secretary determines appropriate, 
                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 mental health or 
                        maternal health and mental health;
                            ``(ii) representatives of nonprofit 
                        organizations with expertise in maternal mental 
                        health or maternal health and mental health;
                            ``(iii) at least one individual who has 
                        received a diagnosis of a maternal mental 
                        health condition; 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 
        Taskforce Recommending Improvements for Unaddressed Mental 
        Perinatal & Postpartum Health 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 maternal 
                        mental health conditions, including strategies 
                        and recommendations to address social 
                        determinants of health;
                            ``(ii) the identification, screening, 
                        diagnosis, and treatment of, and intervention 
                        with respect to, maternal mental health 
                        conditions, including with respect to affected 
                        families;
                            ``(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 provide support relating to 
                        maternal mental health conditions, including 
                        support for affected families; 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 relating to the prevention 
                or treatment of mental health conditions, including, as 
                appropriate, support for families;
                    ``(C) reducing racial, ethnic, geographic, and 
                other health disparities for prevention, diagnosis, 
                intervention, treatment, and access to maternal mental 
                health 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; and
            ``(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.
    ``(d) Meetings.--The Task Force shall--
            ``(1) meet not less than 2 times each year; and
            ``(2) convene public meetings, as appropriate, to fulfill 
        its duties under this section.
    ``(e) Reports to Public and Federal Leaders.--
            ``(1) In general.--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:
                    ``(A) Not later than 1 year after the first meeting 
                of the Task Force, an initial report under subsection 
                (c)(1).
                    ``(B) Not later than 2 years after the first 
                meeting of the Task Force, an initial national strategy 
                under subsection (c)(2).
                    ``(C) Each year thereafter--
                            ``(i) an updated report under subsection 
                        (c)(1);
                            ``(ii) an updated national strategy under 
                        subsection (c)(2); or
                            ``(iii) if no such update is made, a report 
                        summarizing the activities of the Task Force.
            ``(2) Requirement.--The Task Force shall ensure that 
        reports under this section include data on demographic 
        characteristics, in a de-identified and disaggregated manner, 
        including with respect to race, ethnicity, age, sex, geographic 
        region, marital status, socioeconomic status, and other 
        relevant factors.
    ``(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) Definition.--In this section, the term `maternal mental 
health condition' means a mental health disorder that onsets during the 
pregnancy or within one year of the postpartum or perinatal period, 
including all pregnancy outcomes.
    ``(h) 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).''.
                                 <all>