access- Year-one award
- $209,040,064
- Lead agency
- Dept. of Health and Human Services
- Maternal care in the plan
- Puts a dollar figure on maternal care
- Status
- Closed, award pending
What Iowa's plan funds for maternal care
Iowa's project narrative describes maternal care as a hub-and-spoke system in which "spoke sites may begin scheduling routine prenatal and postpartum remote care teleconsultations with hub-based obstetricians," with "remote fetal monitoring interpretation, virtual high-risk pregnancy assessments, and real-time consultation during labor triage." The plan's Hometown Connections initiative carries $535.5 million over five years across several service lines, so that figure isn't a maternal number. The maternal number arrived on July 14, 2026, when Iowa HHS issued RFP COMPADM26006, the Maternal Health Hub and Spoke Program: $38,591,059 for the year starting October 31, 2026, and $119,783,328 over four years.
The scope includes "equipment needed to provide maternal-fetal medicine specialist care (via in-person care or telemedicine)," the instruction to "provide teleultrasound services when needed," and "24/7 coverage in the event of after-hours emergency consult needs." Two companion rounds were issued on July 14 as well: High-Risk OB and Neonatal Transport (about $6 million in its first year for about three awards and about $20.1 million over the contract, for EMS services that "implement telehealth technology that allows EMS clinicians to connect in real time with specialty providers for direction during maternal or neonatal stabilization and transport") and Mobile Integrated Health (about $5 million a year), which includes prenatal and postpartum home-based support.
What is open, and what comes next
All three rounds closed on September 1, 2026. The hub-and-spoke round has oral presentations around October 12, and all three expect notices of intent to award around October 16. The hub-and-spoke contracts run from October 31, 2026 to September 30, 2031. No award had been posted as of September 30.
Who could apply, and where a partner fits
The hub-and-spoke RFP had three options. Option 1 is a statewide hub; any eligible organization located in Iowa could apply, though the state said it expected applicants to be Level III or Level IV maternal care hospitals. Option 2 is a single rural Level I maternal care hospital that commits to upgrading to Level II. Option 3 is a network of three to five rural Level I and II maternal care hospitals that meet the RFP's distance rules. Letters of intent were mandatory by August 10, so the applicant pool is set. FQHCs, rural health clinics, local health departments and community organizations can take part only as subcontractors to Option 2 or 3 winners, with the agency's prior approval.
A telehealth practice enters as a subcontractor to a hospital or network, or as the specialist arm of a statewide hub. After the awards, the winners will need the coverage they promised: teleconsults, fetal monitoring interpretation, teleultrasound and a consult line that answers after hours.
Where Ouma fits
How tele-MFM fits Iowa's model
Iowa wrote the specification for a telemedicine MFM service into the RFP: teleconsultation for routine and high-risk care, remote fetal monitoring interpretation, teleultrasound, and after-hours emergency consults around the clock. A network of small hospitals can win the award and still have no one to answer the phone at 2 a.m. Ouma provides contracted maternal-fetal medicine coverage and ultrasound interpretation to rural and critical access hospitals, including nights and weekends. Ouma is licensed to practice in all 50 states and is Medicaid-enrolled in 20 states as of August 2026.
See every state's plan side by side or what a partner letter for an application looks like.
Frequently asked questions
Is Iowa's maternal hub-and-spoke round still open?
No. Applications closed September 1, 2026, and letters of intent were required by August 10. The next milestones are oral presentations around October 12 and the notice of intent to award around October 16.
Can a telehealth company be part of an Iowa award?
As a subcontractor to a winning hospital or hospital network, yes, with the agency's approval. Clinics and FQHCs can only take part that way too.