Rep. Belk files bill in North Carolina House to expand maternal, prostate, and breast health programs

A new bill filed by State Rep. Mary Belk in the North Carolina House aims to improve health outcomes by expanding programs for maternal care, prostate cancer screening, and breast imaging services, according to the North Carolina State House.

The bill, filed as HB 1127 on April 29 during the 2025 regular session, was formally listed with the short title: ‘Affordable Maternal Access & Cancer Care Act.’

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill creates a Maternal Care Access Grant Program to fund community-based efforts led by historically underserved groups to reduce maternal mortality and severe morbidity, with grants of $10,000 to $50,000 and $5 million in recurring 2026-27 funding, and requires outreach, technical assistance and reports on results. It appropriates $2 million to launch a statewide Prostate Cancer Control Program providing free or low-cost screening and follow-up to eligible uninsured or underinsured men. The bill also requires health plans, including the State Health Plan, to apply no less favorable cost-sharing to diagnostic and supplemental breast imaging than to screening mammograms and restricts out-of-network billing for specified breast cancer imaging services. Most provisions take effect July 1, 2026, with insurance and billing changes effective Oct. 1, 2026.

Of the four sponsors of this bill, Lindsey Prather proposed the most bills (42) during the 2025 regular session.

Bills in North Carolina follow a multi-step process before becoming law. A lawmaker starts by filing a bill, which is assigned to a committee for review. The bill must be read three times in each chamber. If one chamber changes the bill after the other passes it, both must agree on the final version. Once both chambers approve the same bill, it goes to the governor, who has 10 days (or 30 if the legislature is not in session) to sign, veto, or let it become law without a signature.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.

Belk graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2006 with a BA.

Belk, a Democrat, was elected to the North Carolina State House in 2017 to represent the state’s 88th House district, replacing previous state representative Rob Bryan.