This bill amends the Social Security Act to require hospitals, critical access hospitals, and rural emergency hospitals participating in Medicare to develop comprehensive discharge plans for pregnant individuals . These plans are mandatory for those admitted with signs of labor but expected to be discharged prior to delivery, with an effective date of January 1, 2027. Each plan must include a clinical justification for discharge, an assessment of travel distance and transportation verification, and identification of a secondary facility for labor and delivery services. It also requires confirmation that the plan was reviewed by qualified personnel and understood by the patient in their primary language. The legislation further amends the Public Health Service Act by requiring the Secretary to establish minimum performance milestones for rural maternal and obstetric care training grant recipients, starting in fiscal year 2027. These milestones will include targets for the percentage of staff trained or receiving refresher training, alongside enhanced annual reporting to Congress. Additionally, the bill mandates the establishment of a multi-center implementation science initiative for maternal health to rigorously evaluate various healthcare professional training models and their impact on provider behavior, patient outcomes, and maternal health disparities. This initiative will also include an interagency maternal health dashboard to publicly display maternal health outcome metrics from Department of Health and Human Services agencies.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Health
WELLS Act
USA119th CongressS-4482| Senate
| Updated: 5/11/2026
This bill amends the Social Security Act to require hospitals, critical access hospitals, and rural emergency hospitals participating in Medicare to develop comprehensive discharge plans for pregnant individuals . These plans are mandatory for those admitted with signs of labor but expected to be discharged prior to delivery, with an effective date of January 1, 2027. Each plan must include a clinical justification for discharge, an assessment of travel distance and transportation verification, and identification of a secondary facility for labor and delivery services. It also requires confirmation that the plan was reviewed by qualified personnel and understood by the patient in their primary language. The legislation further amends the Public Health Service Act by requiring the Secretary to establish minimum performance milestones for rural maternal and obstetric care training grant recipients, starting in fiscal year 2027. These milestones will include targets for the percentage of staff trained or receiving refresher training, alongside enhanced annual reporting to Congress. Additionally, the bill mandates the establishment of a multi-center implementation science initiative for maternal health to rigorously evaluate various healthcare professional training models and their impact on provider behavior, patient outcomes, and maternal health disparities. This initiative will also include an interagency maternal health dashboard to publicly display maternal health outcome metrics from Department of Health and Human Services agencies.