Newborns get automatic 30-day health plan coverage after birth
H.R. 9996 — No Surprise Bills for New Moms Act · Filed by Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill makes health plans cover newborns for 30 days after birth. Parents then have 60 days to add the newborn to the plan. If a claim arrives for an unenrolled newborn, the plan must tell the parent right away. The bill changes three national health laws. It applies the same newborn-coverage rule to all types of plans.
Who it affects
Newborns get automatic temporary coverage so they are not uninsured at birth. Parents avoid surprise bills and do not have to rush to enroll their newborn. Plans must track newborn claims and notify parents of uncovered claims.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say whether newborns pay copays during the 30-day period. It does not address how this works with Medicaid and CHIP.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Jul 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 30, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Education and…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- surprise bills — Unexpected medical bills that arrive after care from out-of-network providers.
- Medicaid — A government health plan for people with low income.
- CHIP — A government health plan for children in families with low to medium income.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,743 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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