The bill aims to improve maternal health equity by providing grants to community organizations for respectful maternity care training and enhancing care settings, emphasizing cultural sensitivity and addressing disparities. It proposes a study on reducing bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity care and directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to work with the National Academies on program design effectiveness. The bill establishes a grant program for hospitals and maternity care settings to implement respectful maternity care compliance programs, address racism or bias, collect patient data, and report to the Secretary. It also mandates establishing best practices, conducting a study on racism in maternity care, and allocating funds for the program.
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.
