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H.R. 6238

U.S. House•In Senate Committee

Summary

H.R. 6238, the NIH IMPROVE Act, was introduced in the House on Nov 20, 2025 by Rep. Lauren Underwood (D) with 4 co-sponsors. It was referred to Health, Education, Labor, And Pensions, and last saw action on Jul 21, 2026: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Record

Text

H.R. 6238 has 4 co-sponsors.

hb6238/engrossed-in-house.txt
119 HR 6238 EH: NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 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.
 IB
 119th CONGRESS  2d Session
 H. R. 6238
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 AN ACT
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 Act   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 $63,400,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
 .
    Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2026.  Kevin F. McCumber,  Clerk.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-11-20
  2. Passed House2026-07-20
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Reported to House Jul 9, 2026

hb6238/reported-to-house.md

Shown Here:
Reported to House (07/09/2026)

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.

Sponsors

Rep. Lauren Underwood (D) sponsors H.R. 6238, and 4 members have co-sponsored it, 1 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

H.R. 6238 went before 2 committees: Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Energy and Commerce.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Referred To · Jul 21, 2026 · 747 Bills
Energy and Commerce
Energy and Commerce
Reported By · Jul 9, 2026 · 1,636 Bills

Reports

1 committee report has been filed on H.R. 6238, the latest H. Rept. 119-734.

  • H. Rept. 119-734 — NIH IMPLEMENTING A MATERNAL HEALTH AND PREGNANCY OUTCOMES VISION FOR EVERYONE ACT

Actions

H.R. 6238 has taken 13 actions since Nov 20, 2025, the latest on Jul 21, 2026.

ChamberAction
Jul 21, 2026
Senate
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Jul 20, 202616:04
House
Mr. Guthrie moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Jul 20, 202616:04
House
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H4651-4652)
Jul 20, 202616:04
House
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6238.
Jul 20, 202616:12
House
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4651)

Votes

H.R. 6238 has not gone to a roll call.

3 bills are related to H.R. 6238.

Titles

H.R. 6238 goes by 11 titles, 8 of them short titles.

  • NIH IMPROVE Act — Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
  • NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Act — Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
  • To establish the IMPROVE Initiative within the National Institutes of Health. — Official Title as Introduced
  • NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Act — Short Title(s) as Passed House
  • To establish the IMPROVE Initiative within the National Institutes of Health. — Official Titles from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
  • NIH IMPROVE Act — Short Title(s) as Passed House
  • NIH IMPROVE Act — Display Title
  • NIH IMPROVE Act — Short Title(s) as Reported to House
  • NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone Act — Short Title(s) as Reported to House
  • NIH Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • NIH IMPROVE Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced

Lobbying

3 clients hired 3 firms and 7 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 6238 in 6 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Budget/Appropriations, Health Issues, Medicare/Medicaid, Insurance, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Agriculture, Environment/Superfund, Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
MARCH OF DIMES—Virginia13—
NEMOURS FOUNDATION - A FLORIDA NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION—District of Columbia12—
HADASSAH, THE WOMEN'S ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA, INC.—New York11—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
MARCH OF DIMES13—
THE NEMOURS FOUNDATION - A FLORIDA NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION12—
HADASSAH, THE WOMEN'S ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA, INC.11—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
ANDREW FULLERTON113
KENNETH HERTZ113
DANIELLA GRATALE112
KATHLEEN OSGOOD112
ELIZABETH CULLEN111
LAUREN KATZ111
SAMANTHA GURSKY111

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
NEMOURS FOUNDATION - A FLORIDA NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONTHE NEMOURS FOUNDATION - A FLORIDA NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION2026 first_quarter$150K1st Quarter - Report
NEMOURS FOUNDATION - A FLORIDA NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONTHE NEMOURS FOUNDATION - A FLORIDA NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION2026 second_quarter$140K2nd Quarter - Report
MARCH OF DIMESMARCH OF DIMES2026 second_quarter$60K2nd Quarter - Report
HADASSAH, THE WOMEN'S ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA, INC.HADASSAH, THE WOMEN'S ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA, INC.2026 second_quarter$60K2nd Quarter - Report
MARCH OF DIMESMARCH OF DIMES2025 fourth_quarter$60K4th Quarter - Report
MARCH OF DIMESMARCH OF DIMES2026 first_quarter$50K1st Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 6238 under Health, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 5 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 6238’s is Health.

hr6238/policy-areas.txt
HealthAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Legislative Subjects

H.R. 6238 carries 5 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Health programs administration and funding to Women's health.

hr6238/subjects.txt
Health programs administration and fundingMedical researchNational Institutes of Health (NIH)Sex and reproductive healthWomen's health

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 6238, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 196 (Thursday, November 20, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Ms. UNDERWOOD:H.R. 6238.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution[Page H4878]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com