On Dec. 21, the House and Senate reached a long-awaited deal and passed an end of year bill that included funding for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2021, additional stimulus funding in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, health extenders, and several other legislative provisions. The President is expected to sign the bill into law soon. We are pleased to report that the bill includes a $25 million increase for the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant for a total of $712.7 million in FY21!

A summary of the COVID relief provisions can be found here.

Bill text can be found here.

Detailed funding charts for FY21 Labor, Health and Human Services programs can be found here:

• HRSA Maternal and Child Health is on page 146; and
• CDC funding begins on page 150.

Next Steps on Maternal Health and other Legislation
Unfortunately, the end-of-year bill omitted a number of funding and policy priorities that the maternal and child health community had hoped would make it into the final bill, including the following: emergency funding for the Title V MCH Services Block Grant and MIECHV; the Helping MOMS Act to give states the option to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum; and the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act, which would have authorized a number of programs aimed at improving maternal health outcomes.

Congressional leaders and President-elect Biden, however, have indicated that they intend to continue working on a follow-up emergency relief bill to address unresolved issues. AMCHP staff will continue in our advocacy efforts to ensure that our maternal and child health legislative priorities remain front and center for the new Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration. I

f you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Amy Haddad or Alyson Northrup.