What This Bill Does · Plain English
Summary · Congress.gov
NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Act or the NIH IMPROVE Act This bill provides statutory authority for the National Institutes of Health to provide grants and other support for research on improving health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women, especially in populations that are disproportionately affected.
Carveouts & Earmarks · 2 line items · $440M tagged
Specific dollar amounts in this bill that flow to identifiable companies or programs — the actual cash trail.
$440M
Sec.2 (409K(d))
"There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $73,400,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031."
→ Director of NIH
—
Sec.2 (409K(c))
"The Director of NIH may award grants or enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, or other transactions to carry out this section."
→ Director of NIH
Action Timeline
2025-11-20
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
2025-11-20
Introduced in House
2025-11-20
Introduced in House
Frequently Asked Questions
Did HR.6238 pass?
HR.6238 is still alive. Current stage: PASSED_ONE. Pass likelihood: pending.
What does HR.6238 do?
NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Act or the NIH IMPROVE Act This bill provides statutory authority for the National Institutes of Health to provide grants and other support for research on improving health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women, especially in populations that are disproportionately affected.
Who sponsored HR.6238?
HR.6238 was sponsored by Lauren Underwood (D-Illinois).
How much money does HR.6238 spend?
HR.6238 contains $440M in identified line-item carveouts to specific programs and companies, across 2 earmarks.
Full Bill Text
119 HR 6238 IH: NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone U.S. House of Representatives 2025-11-20 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 6238 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 20, 2025 Ms. Underwood (for herself and Mr. Fitzpatrick ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To establish the IMPROVE Initiative within the National Institutes of Health. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone or the NIH IMPROVE Act . 2. IMPROVE Initiative Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 284 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: 409K. IMPROVE initiative (a) In general The Director of NIH shall continue to carry out a program to improve maternal health outcomes, to be known as the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Initiative or the IMPROVE Initiative (referred to in this section as the Initiative ). (b) Objectives The Initiative shall— (1) advance research to— (A) reduce preventable causes of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity; (B) reduce health disparities related to maternal health outcomes, including such disparities associated with populations with disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity relative to the national rate; and (C) improve health for pregnant and postpartum women before, during, and after pregnancy; (2) use an integrated approach to understand the factors, including biological, behavioral, and other factors, that affect maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity by building an evidence base for improved outcomes in specific regions of the United States; and (3) target health disparities associated with maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity by— (A) implementing and evaluating community-based interventions for disproportionately affected women; and (B) identifying risk factors and the underlying biological mechanisms associated with leading causes of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the United States. (c) Implementation The Director of NIH may award grants or enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, or other transactions to carry out this section. (d) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $73,400,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031. .
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