PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S4998-5003)
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 24, 2026
Community Access, Resources, and Empowerment for Moms Act or the CARE for Moms Act
This bill establishes and expands federal programs to increase access to health care for pregnant and postpartum women, particularly those in underserved communities. It also increases and expands excise taxes on tobacco products.
The bill requires state Medicaid programs and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover women for 12 months postpartum and to cover dental services for pregnant and postpartum women The bill also allows for two years of postpartum coverage for women under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Also, the bill establishes grant programs for
state-based collaboratives to improve perinatal health care,
mobile health units for obstetric care in rural and underserved communities,
the doula workforce, and
regional centers of excellence to educate health professionals on implicit bias and culturally competent care.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must publish information on Medicaid and CHIP benefits for pregnant and postpartum women and report to Congress on maternal health needs and expenditures.
In addition, hospitals, as a condition of Medicare participation, must notify HHS at least 90 days before closing an obstetric unit.
Additionally, the bill increases existing excise taxes on cigarettes, equalizes tax rates among all other tobacco products, and establishes annual inflation adjustments. It also establishes new excise taxes for other tobacco products deemed as such by the Food and Drug Administration that are not already subject to such federal taxes.
People & committees
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] · D–IL
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S4998-5003)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Oct 16, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze S.5515 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
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