The WELLS Act requires hospitals that participate in Medicare to develop comprehensive discharge plans for pregnant individuals who show signs of labor but are being sent home before delivery. These discharge plans must include clinical justification for the discharge, assessment of travel distance to the hospital, verification of reliable transportation, identification of a backup facility for labor and delivery services, and confirmation that the patient understands the plan in their primary language. The requirement takes effect on January 1, 2027, and applies to hospitals, critical access hospitals, and rural emergency hospitals.
The bill also establishes new grant programs and research initiatives to improve maternal and obstetric care in rural areas. It requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to set performance milestones for existing rural maternal and obstetric care training grants, beginning in fiscal year 2027, and mandates annual congressional reports on grant recipients and training outcomes starting January 1, 2027. Additionally, the legislation directs the creation of a multi-center research initiative to evaluate different training models for healthcare professionals and their effects on maternal health outcomes and disparities, along with an interagency maternal health dashboard to track and publicly report maternal health metrics across federal agencies.
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