A Senate committee on Thursday advanced legislation to bring more doctors and nurses to rural and underserved areas in order to provide better care for pregnant women.
The bill was among a handful approved unanimously by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The other two healthcare bills focused on improving infrastructure to treat Alzheimer’s disease and reauthorizing a traumatic brain injury program.
The Improving Access to Maternity Care Act requires the Health Resources and Services Administration to collect better data to place maternity care professionals in areas where there are shortages, according to a summary of the legislation.
It already passed the House and now will head to the full Senate for consideration, possibly during the lame duck legislative session.
“When women do not receive the prenatal care or maternal care they need bad things happen,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, one of the bill’s cosponsors.
Another bill called the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act that aims to establish centers around the country that will focus on improving Alzheimer’s health and partner with local governments.
“It’s a whole new approach, and that is what we need for conquering this disease,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, one of the bill’s cosponsors.
The third bill the committee addressed would reauthorize the Traumatic Brain Injury Program that improves access to support and services for patients suffering from brain injuries.
