[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4147 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4147

 To continue to fund the IMPROVE initiative through the Eunice Kennedy 
 Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 17, 2024

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To continue to fund the IMPROVE initiative through the Eunice Kennedy 
 Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 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 ``NIH Implementing a Maternal health 
and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone'' or the ``NIH IMPROVE 
Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVE INITIATIVE.

    Subpart 7 of part C of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 452H. IMPROVE INITIATIVE.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director of the Institute shall continue to 
carry out the IMPROVE initiative (referred to in this section as the 
`Initiative') through the Institute for the following:
            ``(1) Advancing research to--
                    ``(A) reduce preventable causes of maternal 
                mortality and severe maternal morbidity;
                    ``(B) reduce racial, ethnic, geographic, and 
                socioeconomic disparities in maternal health outcomes; 
                and
                    ``(C) improve health for pregnant and postpartum 
                individuals before, during, and after pregnancy.
            ``(2) Using an integrated approach to understand the 
        biological, behavioral, sociocultural, and structural factors 
        that affect maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity by 
        building an evidence base for improved care and outcomes in 
        specific regions of the United States.
            ``(3) Targeting health disparities associated with maternal 
        mortality and severe maternal morbidity by--
                    ``(A) implementing and evaluating community-based 
                interventions for disproportionately affected 
                individuals; and
                    ``(B) identifying risk factors and the underlying 
                biological mechanisms associated with leading causes of 
                maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the 
                United States, including cardiovascular disease, 
                infection and immunity, vitamin and nutrient 
                deficiencies, and mental and behavioral health.
    ``(b) Implementation.--The Director of the Institute may award 
grants or enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, or other 
transactions to carry out subsection (a), including with researchers 
from racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in section 
1707(g)(1)).
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $53,400,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2025 through 2031.''.
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