Senator Collins’ Bipartisan Bill to Expand Rural Access to Maternal Health Care Advances Out of Committee

Bill would provide rural hospitals with training and telehealth support to respond to obstetric emergencies.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee markup, the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act advanced by a bipartisan vote of 21 to 1. This bill, introduced by U.S. Senators Susan Collins, Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Tina Smith (D-MN), would help prepare rural hospitals and practitioners to handle the obstetric emergencies that come through their doors as more delivery units, particularly those in rural areas, are being forced into closure. The bill now moves to the Senate floor for consideration by the full body.

"Nationwide, more than two million women live in a county without a provider offering obstetric care. In Maine, about half of our hospitals do not have dedicated labor and delivery units. Rural Mainers have to drive more than 45 minutes to the nearest birthing hospital on average," said Senator Collins during the markup. "The bill that we're marking up today will ensure that rural hospitals will be better prepared to handle women experiencing an emergency with their pregnancy, even if that hospital does not have dedicated labor and delivery staff. The grants and training opportunities created by this bill are sorely needed. It seems like every month we learn of another rural hospital in Maine that is giving up its obstetrics unit because of a lack of providers. I ask all of our colleagues to support passage of this legislation."

Between 2011 and 2021, more than 260 rural hospitals in the U.S. shut down their obstetrics services, representing one in four of the nation's rural obstetric units. This trend has left more than 2 million women in a maternity care desert, meaning that they live in a county without a provider offering obstetric care such as labor and delivery. This can lead to longer driving times for care and increased health risks.

Specifically, the Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act would help rural hospitals and doctors prepare to handle the obstetric emergencies that come through their doors by:

1. Creating training programs to help non-specialists respond to emergencies like labor and delivery; and
2. Developing a pilot program for teleconsultation services, so that a doctor at a rural facility helping an expecting or postpartum mother facing an emergency can quickly consult with maternal health care experts.

Click here to read the complete text of the legislation.

Improving access to health care in rural areas has long been a focus of Senator Collins' efforts in the Senate. Last December, she announced that Maine will receive $190 million in first-year funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), a $50 billion initiative she proposed to support rural health care systems across the country. The RHTP represents the largest single federal investment in rural health care in more than two decades.

Earlier this year, Senator Collins secured $70,872,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending for Maine hospitals and health centers in the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. This funding included $1,599,000 to replace and modernize labor and delivery unit equipment at hospitals in Bangor, Dover-Foxcroft, Ellsworth, Portland, and Presque Isle.

###

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Tweet