H.R. 8074
Kira Johnson Act
Sponsor: Alma S. Adams
62 cosponsors
- Al Green
- Josh Gottheimer
- Juan Vargas
- Nikema Williams
- Nikki Budzinski
- Troy A. Carter
- Eugene Simon Vindman
- Adam Smith
- Adelita S. Grijalva
- Andrea Salinas
- André Carson
- Angie Craig
- Ayanna Pressley
- Bonnie Watson Coleman
- Bradley Scott Schneider
- Christian D. Menefee
- Darren Soto
- David Scott
- Debbie Dingell
- Eleanor Holmes Norton
- Emilia Strong Sykes
- Frederica S. Wilson
- George Latimer
- Glenn Ivey
- Gwen Moore
- Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.
- Herbert C. Conaway, Jr.
- Jahana Hayes
- Jennifer L. McClellan
- Jesús G. "Chuy" García
- John Garamendi
- Jonathan L. Jackson
- Joyce Beatty
- Julie Johnson
- Kevin Mullin
- LaMonica McIver
- Lauren Underwood
- Lucy McBath
- Madeleine Dean
- Marc A. Veasey
- Marilyn Strickland
- Mark Takano
- Mary Gay Scanlon
- Melanie A. Stansbury
- Morgan McGarvey
- Nanette Diaz Barragán
- Paul Tonko
- Raja Krishnamoorthi
- Rashida Tlaib
- Robert C. "Bobby" Scott
- Sara Jacobs
- Seth Moulton
- Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
- Shomari Figures
- Steve Cohen
- Steven Horsford
- Suzan K. DelBene
- Sydney Kamlager-Dove
- Ted Lieu
- Terri A. Sewell
- Wesley Bell
- Yvette D. Clarke
Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Kira Johnson Act
This bill establishes various grants for establishing or expanding programs to advance maternal health equity.
Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must award grants for
- community-based programs to improve maternal health outcomes for demographic groups with elevated rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, maternal health disparities, and other adverse outcomes;
- training for health care providers and others who work in maternity care settings on reducing and preventing racism, bias, and discrimination; and
- programs in hospitals, health systems, and other maternity care settings to establish processes to identify and address instances of racism or evidence of bias in maternity care (i.e., respectful maternity care compliance programs).
Also, HHS must contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study issues related to the training programs, and the Government Accountability Office must study issues related to the respectful maternity care compliance programs.
Text of the bill
(a) In general. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall seek to enter into an agreement, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (referred to in this section as the National Academies) under which the National Academies agree to—
(1) conduct a study on the design and implementation of programs to reduce and prevent bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity care settings and to advance respectful, culturally and linguistically congruent, trauma-informed care; and
(2) not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act—
(A) complete the study; and
(B) transmit a report on the results of the study to the Congress.
(b) Possible topics. The agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (a) may provide for the study of any of the following:
(1) The development of a scorecard or other evaluation standards for programs designed to reduce and prevent bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity care settings to assess the effectiveness of such programs in improving patient outcomes and patient experience for pregnant and postpartum individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups and their families.
(2) Determination of the types and frequency of training to reduce and prevent bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity care settings that are demonstrated to improve patient outcomes or patient experience for pregnant and postpartum individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups and their families.