PUBLIC LAW 115–71—OCT. 18, 2017 

EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND 

INTERVENTION ACT OF 2017 


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131 STAT. 1218 PUBLIC LAW 115–71—OCT. 18, 2017 

Public Law 115–71 

115th Congress 

An Act 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize a program for early detection, 

diagnosis, and treatment regarding deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, 

and young children. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Early Hearing Detection and 

Intervention Act of 2017’’. 

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM FOR EARLY DETECTION, 

DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT REGARDING DEAF AND HARDOF-HEARING NEWBORNS, INFANTS, AND YOUNG CHILDREN. 

(a) SECTION HEADING.—The section heading of section 399M 

of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–1) is amended 

to read as follows: 

‘‘SEC. 399M. EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT 

REGARDING DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING NEWBORNS, 

INFANTS, AND YOUNG CHILDREN.’’. 

(b) STATEWIDE SYSTEMS.—Section 399M(a) of the Public Health 

Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–1(a)) is amended— 

(1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘NEWBORN AND

INFANT’’ and inserting ‘‘NEWBORN, INFANT, AND YOUNG CHILD’’; 

(2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘newborn and infant’’ and inserting 

‘‘newborn, infant, and young child’’; and 

(B) by striking ‘‘providers,’’ and inserting ‘‘providers 

(including, as appropriate, education and training of family 

members),’’; 

(3) in paragraph (1)— 

(A) in the first sentence— 

(i) by striking ‘‘newborns and infants’’ and 

inserting ‘‘newborns, infants, and young children 

(referred to in this section as ‘children’)’’; and 

(ii) by striking ‘‘and medical’’ and all that follows 

through the period and inserting ‘‘medical, and communication (or language acquisition) interventions 

(including family support), for children identified as 

deaf or hard-of-hearing, consistent with the following:’’; 

(B) in the second sentence— 

(i) by striking ‘‘Early’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(A) Early’’; 

Early Hearing 

Detection and 

Intervention Act 

of 2017. 

42 USC 201 note. 

Oct. 18, 2017 

[S. 652] 


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PUBLIC LAW 115–71—OCT. 18, 2017 131 STAT. 1219 

(ii) by striking ‘‘and delivery of’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

and delivery of,’’; 

(iii) by striking ‘‘by schools’’ and all that follows 

through ‘‘programs mandated’’ and inserting ‘‘by 

organizations such as schools and agencies (including 

community, consumer, and family-based agencies), in 

health care settings (including medical homes for children), and in programs mandated’’; and 

(iv) by striking ‘‘hard of hearing’’ and all that 

follows through the period and inserting ‘‘hard-ofhearing children.’’; and 

(C) by striking the last sentence and inserting the 

following: 

‘‘(B) Information provided to families should be 

accurate, comprehensive, up-to-date, and evidence-based, 

as appropriate, to allow families to make important 

decisions for their children in a timely manner, including 

decisions with respect to the full range of assistive hearing 

technologies and communications modalities, as appropriate. 

‘‘(C) Programs and systems under this paragraph shall 

offer mechanisms that foster family-to-family and deaf and 

hard-of-hearing consumer-to-family supports.’’; 

(4) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘To collect’’ and all that 

follows through the period and inserting ‘‘To continue to provide 

technical support to States, through one or more technical 

resource centers, to assist in further developing and enhancing 

State early hearing detection and intervention programs.’’; and 

(5) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(3) To identify or develop efficient models (educational 

and medical) to ensure that children who are identified as 

deaf or hard-of-hearing through screening receive follow-up by 

qualified early intervention providers or qualified health care 

providers (including those at medical homes for children), and 

referrals, as appropriate, including to early intervention services under part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

Act. State agencies shall be encouraged to effectively increase 

the rate of such follow-up and referral.’’. 

(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, DATA MANAGEMENT, AND APPLIED

RESEARCH.—Section 399M(b)(1) of the Public Health Service Act 

(42 U.S.C. 280g–1(b)(1)) is amended— 

(1) in the first sentence— 

(A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 

(B) by striking ‘‘to complement an intramural program 

and’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘or designated entities 

of States— 

‘‘(i) to develop, maintain, and improve data collection systems related to newborn, infant, and young 

child hearing screening, evaluation (including 

audiologic, medical, and language acquisition evaluations), diagnosis, and intervention services;’’; 

(C) by striking ‘‘to conduct’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(ii) to conduct’’; and 

(D) by striking ‘‘newborn’’ and all that follows through 

the period and inserting the following: ‘‘newborn, infant, 


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131 STAT. 1220 PUBLIC LAW 115–71—OCT. 18, 2017 

and young child hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention programs and outcomes; 

‘‘(iii) to ensure quality monitoring of hearing 

screening, evaluation, and intervention programs and 

systems for newborns, infants, and young children; 

and 

‘‘(iv) to support newborn, infant, and young child 

hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention programs, and information systems.’’; 

(2) in the second sentence— 

(A) by striking the matter that precedes subparagraph 

(A) and all that follows through subparagraph (C) and 

inserting the following: 

‘‘(B) USE OF AWARDS.—The awards made under 

subparagraph (A) may be used— 

‘‘(i) to provide technical assistance on data collection and management, including to coordinate and 

develop standardized procedures for data management; 

‘‘(ii) to assess and report on the cost and program 

effectiveness of newborn, infant, and young child 

hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention programs and systems; 

‘‘(iii) to collect data and report on newborn, infant, 

and young child hearing screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs and systems for 

applied research, program evaluation, and policy 

improvement;’’; 

(B) by redesignating subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F) 

as clauses (iv), (v), and (vi), respectively, and aligning the 

margins of those clauses with the margins of clause (i) 

of subparagraph (B) (as inserted by subparagraph (A) of 

this paragraph); 

(C) in clause (v) (as redesignated by subparagraph 

(B) of this paragraph)— 

(i) by striking ‘‘newborn and infant’’ and inserting 

‘‘newborn, infant, and young child’’; and 

(ii) by striking ‘‘language status’’ and inserting 

‘‘hearing status’’; and 

(D) in clause (vi) (as redesignated by subparagraph 

(B) of this paragraph)— 

(i) by striking ‘‘sharing’’ and inserting ‘‘integration 

and interoperability’’; and 

(ii) by striking ‘‘with State-based’’ and all that 

follows through the period and inserting ‘‘across multiple sources to increase the flow of information 

between clinical care and public health settings, 

including the ability of States and territories to 

exchange and share data.’’. 

(d) COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION.—Section 399M(c) of 

the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–1(c)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (1)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘consult with’’ and inserting ‘‘consult 

with—’’; 

(B) by striking ‘‘other Federal’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(A) other Federal’’; 


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PUBLIC LAW 115–71—OCT. 18, 2017 131 STAT. 1221 

(C) by striking ‘‘State and local agencies, including 

those’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(B) State and local agencies, including agencies’’; 

(D) by striking ‘‘consumer groups of and that serve’’ 

and inserting the following: 

‘‘(C) consumer groups of, and that serve,’’; 

(E) by striking ‘‘appropriate national’’ and inserting 

the following: 

‘‘(D) appropriate national’’; 

(F) by striking ‘‘persons who are deaf and’’ and 

inserting the following: 

‘‘(E) individuals who are deaf or’’; 

(G) by striking ‘‘other qualified’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(F) other qualified’’; 

(H) by striking ‘‘newborns, infants, toddlers, children,’’ 

and inserting ‘‘children,’’; 

(I) by striking ‘‘third-party’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(G) third-party’’; and 

(J) by striking ‘‘related commercial’’ and inserting the 

following: 

‘‘(H) related commercial’’; and 

(2) in paragraph (3)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘States to establish newborn and infant’’ 

and inserting the following: ‘‘States— 

‘‘(A) to establish newborn, infant, and young child’’; 

(B) by inserting a semicolon after ‘‘subsection (a)’’; and 

(C) by striking ‘‘to develop’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(B) to develop’’. 

(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION; RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION.—Section 399M(d) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g– 

1(d)) is amended— 

(1) by striking ‘‘which’’ and inserting ‘‘that’’; 

(2) by striking ‘‘newborn infants or young’’; and 

(3) by striking ‘‘parents’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘parent’s’’. 

(f) DEFINITIONS.—Section 399M(e) of the Public Health Service 

Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–1(e)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (1)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘(1)’’ and all that follows through ‘‘to 

procedures’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(1) The term ‘audiologic’, when used in connection with 

evaluation, means procedures—’’; 

(B) by striking ‘‘to assess’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(A) to assess’’; 

(C) by striking ‘‘to establish’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(B) to establish’’; 

(D) by striking ‘‘auditory disorder;’’ and inserting 

‘‘auditory disorder,’’; 

(E) by striking ‘‘to identify’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(C) to identify’’; 

(F) by striking ‘‘options.’’ and all that follows through 

‘‘linkage’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘options, including— 

‘‘(i) linkage’’; 

(G) by striking ‘‘appropriate agencies,’’ and all that 

follows through ‘‘national’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘appropriate agencies; 


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131 STAT. 1222 PUBLIC LAW 115–71—OCT. 18, 2017 

‘‘(ii) medical evaluation; 

‘‘(iii) assessment for the full range of assistive 

hearing technologies appropriate for newborns, infants, 

and young children; 

‘‘(iv) audiologic rehabilitation treatment; and 

‘‘(v) referral to national’’; and 

(H) by striking ‘‘parent, and education’’ and inserting 

‘‘parent, family, and education’’; 

(2) by striking paragraph (2); 

(3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (6) as paragraphs (2) through (5); 

(4) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated by paragraph (3) 

of this subsection)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘refers to providing’’ and inserting the 

following: ‘‘means— 

‘‘(A) providing’’; 

(B) by striking ‘‘with hearing loss, including nonmedical services,’’ and inserting ‘‘who is deaf or hard-of-hearing, 

including nonmedical services;’’; 

(C) by striking ‘‘ensuring that families of the child 

are provided’’ and inserting the following: 

‘‘(B) ensuring that the family of the child is— 

‘‘(i) provided’’; 

(D) by striking ‘‘language and communication options 

and are given’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘language 

acquisition in oral and visual modalities; and 

‘‘(ii) given’’; and 

(E) by striking ‘‘their child’’ and inserting ‘‘the child’’; 

(5) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated by paragraph (3) 

of this subsection), by striking ‘‘(3)’’ and all that follows through 

‘‘decision making’’ and inserting ‘‘The term ‘medical evaluation’ 

means key components performed by a physician including 

history, examination, and medical decisionmaking’’; 

(6) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by paragraph (3) 

of this subsection)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘refers to’’ and inserting ‘‘means’’; 

(B) by striking ‘‘and/or surgical’’ and inserting ‘‘or surgical’’; and 

(C) by striking ‘‘of hearing’’ and all that follows through 

‘‘disorder’’ and inserting ‘‘for hearing loss or other medical 

disorders’’; and 

(7) in paragraph (5) (as redesignated by paragraph (3) 

of this subsection)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘(5)’’ and all that follows through ‘‘refers 

to’’ and inserting ‘‘(5) The term ‘newborn, infant, and young 

child hearing screening’ means’’; and 

(B) by striking ‘‘and infants’’ and inserting ‘‘, infants, 

and young children under 3 years of age’’. 

(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 399M(f) of the 

Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–1(f)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘such sums’’ and all that follows through the period and inserting ‘‘$17,818,000 for fiscal 

year 2018, $18,173,800 for fiscal year 2019, $18,628,145 for 

fiscal year 2020, $19,056,592 for fiscal year 2021, and 

$19,522,758 for fiscal year 2022.’’; and 

(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘such sums’’ and all that 

follows through the period and inserting ‘‘$10,800,000 for fiscal 


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PUBLIC LAW 115–71—OCT. 18, 2017 131 STAT. 1223 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 652: 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 163 (2017): 

Sept. 6, considered and passed Senate. 

Oct. 3, considered and passed House. 

Æ 

year 2018, $11,026,800 for fiscal year 2019, $11,302,470 for 

fiscal year 2020, $11,562,427 for fiscal year 2021, and 

$11,851,488 for fiscal year 2022.’’. 

Approved October 18, 2017. 


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