[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7087 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.
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