This Act directs the Secretary of HHS to report on and improve state coverage of remote physiologic monitoring devices for pregnant and postpartum Medicaid beneficiaries.
Lois Frankel
Representative
FL-22
The Connected Maternal Online Monitoring (Connected MOM) Act aims to improve health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women on Medicaid by examining and addressing barriers to state coverage for remote physiologic monitoring devices. The Secretary of Health and Human Services must report to Congress on current state coverage rules and suggest improvements for utilizing these monitoring tools. Following the report, federal resources provided to states must be updated to reflect the recommended best practices for covering remote maternal health monitoring.
Connected MOM Act Mandates Federal Study on Remote Monitoring Coverage for Medicaid Moms Within 18 Months
The newly introduced Connected Maternal Online Monitoring Act—or the Connected MOM Act—is focused on one thing: making sure pregnant and new mothers covered by Medicaid can actually access the technology needed for remote health monitoring.
This bill doesn't instantly change what your state Medicaid covers, but it sets up a mandatory federal review process aimed at fixing coverage gaps. Specifically, it requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to deliver a detailed report to Congress within 18 months of the bill becoming law. This report has to figure out exactly what rules states currently have for covering remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) devices—things like the smart blood pressure cuffs or pulse oximeters that can track vital signs from home. The goal is to identify any "roadblocks or limitations" that stop states from covering these tools.
The Remote Check-In Revolution
For anyone juggling work, family, and prenatal appointments, remote monitoring is a game-changer. Imagine you’re a new mom in a rural area or working two jobs with limited time off. Instead of driving an hour round trip for a routine blood pressure check—which is critical for conditions like preeclampsia—you can use a device supplied by your doctor and send the data electronically. The Connected MOM Act is betting that wider use of these devices will significantly improve maternal and child health outcomes, especially for high-risk pregnancies, by catching problems earlier.
Clearing the Path for State Medicaid Programs
The most practical impact of this bill comes six months after the initial report hits Congress. Once the Secretary has laid out all the problems and made recommendations on how to fix them, they have a tight deadline to update resources and toolkits provided to State Medicaid programs. Think of these toolkits as the instruction manuals states use to set up their coverage rules. By updating them, the federal government is essentially giving states clearer, standardized guidance on how to cover these remote monitoring devices. This means less confusion and fewer excuses for states to deny coverage for technology that could save lives and reduce expensive emergency room visits. This is an administrative step, but it’s a necessary one to ensure that the technology designed to help busy, often high-risk, mothers actually reaches them.