S. 3254Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

NIH IMPROVE Act

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Updated December 18, 2025 at 6:41 AM UTC

The NIH IMPROVE Act creates a new "Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone" (IMPROVE) Initiative within the National Institutes of Health. The initiative is aimed at improving maternal health outcomes by funding research, addressing health disparities, and supporting community‑based interventions for pregnant and postpartum women. It applies to NIH’s director, researchers, and organizations that receive NIH grants or contracts.

Key Provisions

The NIH Director will run the IMPROVE Initiative to advance research that reduces preventable maternal deaths and severe morbidity, especially among high‑risk populations.
The initiative will focus on building an evidence base about biological, behavioral, and other factors influencing maternal outcomes, and will target regional health disparities.
NIH may award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to carry out the program, including community‑based interventions and studies of risk factors.
Congress authorizes $73.4 million per fiscal year for the initiative from 2026 through 2031.

Legislative Activity

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SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

November 20, 2025

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

November 20, 2025

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

November 20, 2025

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued November 20, 2025

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 3254

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

November 20, 2025

Mrs. Britt (for herself and Mr. Booker) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To establish the IMPROVE Initiative within the National Institutes of Health.

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.

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.