Improving Access to Maternity Care Act Public Law 115–320 Improving Access to Maternity Care Act 320 115–320 Statute Compilation United States House of Representatives Office of the Legislative Counsel text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. GPO Statute Compilations USLM converter, version 20210527.1 2021-10-15 Improving Access to Maternity Care Act 14320 115 2018-12-17 Improving Access to Maternity Care Act [(Public Law 115–320)] [This law has not been amended] [Currency: This publication is a compilation of the text of Public Law 115–320. It was last amended by the public law listed in the As Amended Through note above and below at the bottom of each page of the pdf version and reflects current law through the date of the enactment of the public law listed at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/comps/] [Note: While this publication does not represent an official version of any Federal statute, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The official version of Federal law is found in the United States Statutes at Large and in the United States Code. The legal effect to be given to the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is established by statute (1 U.S.C. 112, 204).]
AN ACTTo amend the Public Health Service Act to distribute maternity care health professionals to health professional shortage areas identified as in need of maternity care health services.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. [42 U.S.C. 201 note] SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the “Improving Access to Maternity Care Act”.
SEC. 2. MATERNITY CARE HEALTH PROFESSIONAL TARGET AREAS. Section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(k)(1) The Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall identify, based on the data collected under paragraph (3), maternity care health professional target areas that satisfy the criteria described in paragraph (2) for purposes of, in connection with receipt of assistance under this title, assigning to such identified areas maternity care health professionals who, without application of this subsection, would otherwise be eligible for such assistance. The Secretary shall distribute maternity care health professionals within health professional shortage areas using the maternity care health professional target areas so identified. “(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall establish criteria for maternity care health professional target areas that identify geographic areas within health professional shortage areas that have a shortage of maternity care health professionals. “(3) For purposes of this subsection, the Secretary shall collect and publish in the Federal Register data comparing the availability and need of maternity care health services in health professional shortage areas and in areas within such health professional shortage areas. “(4) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall seek input from relevant provider organizations, including medical societies, organizations representing medical facilities, and other organizations with expertise in maternity care. “(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘full scope maternity care health services’ includes during labor care, birthing, prenatal care, and postpartum care. “(6) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as— “(A) requiring the identification of a maternity care health professional target area in an area not otherwise already designated as a health professional shortage area; or “(B) affecting the types of health professionals, without application of this subsection, otherwise eligible for assistance, including a loan repayment or scholarship, pursuant to the application of this section.” .