New Moms and Babies Act Mandates C-Section Reporting, Funds Telehealth, and Requires States to Track Social Needs

The new Healthy Moms and Babies Act is a major policy push aimed at improving maternal and infant health outcomes, primarily for the millions of women covered by Medicaid. At its core, this bill mandates new quality reporting for states, focuses on safely lowering unnecessary C-section rates, and sets up a framework for better, more coordinated care for pregnant and postpartum women.

The C-Section Scorecard: What Gets Measured Gets Managed

If you’ve ever felt like the healthcare system prioritizes speed over patient outcomes, Section 4 of this bill is meant to address that head-on. Starting in 2027, every state Medicaid program must publicly report its rate of “low-risk cesarean delivery”—the C-sections that are most likely unnecessary. They have to compare this rate against their overall C-section rate and detail what quality programs they’ve put in place to safely bring that number down. It’s a huge transparency move. On top of that, hospitals participating in Medicare will also have to start reporting their NTSV C-section rate (for first-time, full-term, single babies in the head-down position) as part of their quality metrics.

Why does this matter? The bill also mandates a federal study (Section 4) on how much Medicaid pays hospitals for C-sections versus vaginal births. The idea is to find out if payment structures are accidentally encouraging more expensive, high-intervention births, which is a key concern for both patients and taxpayers. For new parents, this means a policy focus on ensuring they receive the safest, most appropriate birth plan, not the one that pays the hospital the most.

The Maternity Health Home: Coordinated Care for the First Year

One of the most powerful changes is the creation of the optional “maternity health home” (Section 5). Starting in 2028, states can choose to set up this system, allowing pregnant and postpartum women on Medicaid to pick a single provider or team to coordinate all their care for a full year after birth. Think of it as a personalized concierge service for new moms. This team doesn't just manage doctor appointments; they are required to coordinate behavioral health services, community support, and even help you transition to new health coverage if you lose Medicaid eligibility.

This is a massive win for busy families. Instead of juggling a primary care doctor, OB-GYN, pediatrician, mental health specialist, and potentially a social worker, this model puts one team in charge of the whole picture. The bill also requires hospitals to connect eligible women to these homes if they show up in the emergency room, ensuring continuity of care when it’s needed most.

Integrating Real Life: Tackling Social Determinants of Health

This bill recognizes that health isn't just about what happens in the doctor’s office. It’s about housing, food, and stability. Section 14 is a landmark step, requiring the federal government and states to develop standardized ways to start collecting data on the social determinants of health (SDOH) of Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries. This means states will eventually track information related to housing security, food access, and employment using standardized codes.

For regular people, this means that when you talk to your provider about struggling to pay rent or put food on the table, that information could become part of a formal system designed to connect you with resources. The goal is to move beyond treating symptoms to addressing the root causes of poor health. However, this is a heavy lift for states, and the bill authorizes $50 million to help them implement these complex new data collection and system changes, which won’t fully kick in for several years.

New Guidance and Workforce Reskilling

The Act sets up multiple studies and guidance requirements aimed at standardizing quality care:

• Telehealth Pilots (Section 9): Grants will be issued to states to test how telehealth can be used to improve care for pregnant and postpartum women, especially in rural or underserved areas. The bill temporarily waives some standard Medicaid rules to allow states to experiment with these models.
• Doula and CHW Study (Section 8): The bill requires a study by MACPAC on how state Medicaid programs cover doulas and community health workers, with the goal of creating guidance to increase access to these crucial support roles.
• Workforce Reskilling (Section 7): A national expert group will be established to review all current birthing practices and recommend best practices to improve training for doctors, midwives, and other maternity care professionals. This is about ensuring the care you receive is based on the latest, best evidence.

The Fine Print: New Burdens and Oversight Changes

While this bill is overwhelmingly positive for beneficiaries, it does create significant administrative lift for states and hospitals. State Medicaid agencies must now report more quality data (Section 3), implement new quality improvement programs, and eventually collect complex SDOH data (Section 14).

One detail worth noting is in Section 17, which relates to financial oversight. Starting in 2027, the mandatory federal audits that check for state Medicaid payment errors (PERM audits) will move from annual to biennial (every two years). While the bill requires states with high error rates to submit a reduction plan, reducing the frequency of these comprehensive financial checks could potentially lessen federal oversight on payment accuracy, even if the intent is to streamline the audit process.