WELLS Act

Key Points

• Hospitals participating in Medicare would be required to create formal discharge plans for any pregnant person admitted with signs of labor who is expected to be sent home before delivery. The plan must include a clinical justification, travel assessment, transportation verification, and identification of a backup facility.
• The discharge plan must be discussed with the patient in their primary language, with documented confirmation that they understand the information. This requirement applies to all patients regardless of whether they are enrolled in Medicare, starting January 1, 2027.
• Rural maternal care training grants would now require racial bias training as part of their programs, with new performance milestones tracking the percentage of staff trained. Annual reports to Congress must include data on clinical outcomes, patient experience, and racial disparities linked to the training.
• The Department of Health and Human Services must create and maintain a public Maternal Health Dashboard tracking outcomes like maternal mortality, severe morbidity, pre-delivery discharges, and federal investments in maternal health research.
• A multi-center research initiative would be established to study which training models — in-person, virtual, simulation, or cohort-based — are most effective at changing provider behavior and improving maternal health outcomes, particularly in reducing disparities.