115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 652 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Early Hearing Detec3 tion and Intervention Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM FOR EARLY DE5 TECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT RE6 GARDING DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING 

7 NEWBORNS, INFANTS, AND YOUNG CHIL8 DREN. 

9 (a) SECTION HEADING.—The section heading of sec10 tion 399M of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 280g–1) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 399M. EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREAT13 MENT REGARDING DEAF AND HARD-OF14 HEARING NEWBORNS, INFANTS, AND YOUNG 

15 CHILDREN.’’. 

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

17 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–1(a)) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 

20 ‘‘NEWBORN AND INFANT’’ and inserting ‘‘NEW21 BORN, INFANT, AND YOUNG CHILD’’; 

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

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

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

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

2 ‘‘providers (including, as appropriate, education 

3 and training of family members),’’; 

4 (3) in paragraph (1)— 

5 (A) in the first sentence— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘newborns and in7 fants’’ and inserting ‘‘newborns, infants, 

8 and young children (referred to in this sec9 tion as ‘children’)’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘and medical’’ and all 

11 that follows through the period and insert12 ing ‘‘medical, and communication (or lan13 guage acquisition) interventions (including 

14 family support), for children identified as 

15 deaf or hard-of-hearing, consistent with the 

16 following:’’; 

17 (B) in the second sentence— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘Early’’ and inserting 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) Early’’; 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘and delivery of’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘, and delivery of,’’; 

23 (iii) by striking ‘‘by schools’’ and all 

24 that follows through ‘‘programs mandated’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘by organizations such as 
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1 schools and agencies (including commu2 nity, consumer, and family-based agen3 cies), in health care settings (including 

4 medical homes for children), and in pro5 grams mandated’’; and 

6 (iv) by striking ‘‘hard of hearing’’ and 

7 all that follows through the period and in8 serting ‘‘hard-of-hearing children.’’; and 

9 (C) by striking the last sentence and in10 serting the following: 

11 ‘‘(B) Information provided to families 

12 should be accurate, comprehensive, up-to-date, 

13 and evidence-based, as appropriate, to allow 

14 families to make important decisions for their 

15 children in a timely manner, including decisions 

16 with respect to the full range of assistive hear17 ing technologies and communications modali18 ties, as appropriate. 

19 ‘‘(C) Programs and systems under this 

20 paragraph shall offer mechanisms that foster 

21 family-to-family and deaf and hard-of-hearing 

22 consumer-to-family supports.’’; 

23 (4) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘To collect’’ 

24 and all that follows through the period and inserting 

25 ‘‘To continue to provide technical support to States, 
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1 through one or more technical resource centers, to 

2 assist in further developing and enhancing State 

3 early hearing detection and intervention programs.’’; 

4 and 

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

6 following: 

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

8 (educational and medical) to ensure that children 

9 who are identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing 

10 through screening receive follow-up by qualified 

11 early intervention providers or qualified health care 

12 providers (including those at medical homes for chil13 dren), and referrals, as appropriate, including to 

14 early intervention services under part C of the Indi15 viduals with Disabilities Education Act. State agen16 cies shall be encouraged to effectively increase the 

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

18 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, DATA MANAGEMENT, 

19 AND APPLIED RESEARCH.—Section 399M(b)(1) of the 

20 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–1(b)(1)) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in the first sentence— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and in24 serting the following: 

25 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘to complement an intra2 mural program and’’ and inserting the fol3 lowing: ‘‘or designated entities of States— 

4 ‘‘(i) to develop, maintain, and improve 

5 data collection systems related to newborn, 

6 infant, and young child hearing screening, 

7 evaluation (including audiologic, medical, 

8 and language acquisition evaluations), di9 agnosis, and intervention services;’’; 

10 (C) by striking ‘‘to conduct’’ and inserting 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(ii) to conduct’’; and 

13 (D) by striking ‘‘newborn’’ and all that fol14 lows through the period and inserting the fol15 lowing: ‘‘newborn, infant, and young child hear16 ing screening, evaluation, and intervention pro17 grams and outcomes; 

18 ‘‘(iii) to ensure quality monitoring of 

19 hearing screening, evaluation, and inter20 vention programs and systems for 

21 newborns, infants, and young children; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) to support newborn, infant, and 

23 young child hearing screening, evaluation, 

24 and intervention programs, and informa25 tion systems.’’; 
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1 (2) in the second sentence— 

2 (A) by striking the matter that precedes 

3 subparagraph (A) and all that follows through 

4 subparagraph (C) and inserting the following: 

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

6 under subparagraph (A) may be used— 

7 ‘‘(i) to provide technical assistance on 

8 data collection and management, including 

9 to coordinate and develop standardized 

10 procedures for data management; 

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

12 and program effectiveness of newborn, in13 fant, and young child hearing screening, 

14 evaluation, and intervention programs and 

15 systems; 

16 ‘‘(iii) to collect data and report on 

17 newborn, infant, and young child hearing 

18 screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and inter19 vention programs and systems for applied 

20 research, program evaluation, and policy 

21 improvement;’’; 

22 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (D), 

23 (E), and (F) as clauses (iv), (v), and (vi), re24 spectively, and aligning the margins of those 

25 clauses with the margins of clause (i) of sub-
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1 paragraph (B) (as inserted by subparagraph 

2 (A) of this paragraph); 

3 (C) in clause (v) (as redesignated by sub4 paragraph (B) of this paragraph)— 

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

6 and inserting ‘‘newborn, infant, and young 

7 child’’; and 

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

9 inserting ‘‘hearing status’’; and 

10 (D) in clause (vi) (as redesignated by sub11 paragraph (B) of this paragraph)— 

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

13 ‘‘integration and interoperability’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘with State-based’’ 

15 and all that follows through the period and 

16 inserting ‘‘across multiple sources to in17 crease the flow of information between 

18 clinical care and public health settings, in19 cluding the ability of States and territories 

20 to exchange and share data.’’. 

21 (d) COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION.—Section 

22 399M(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 280g–1(c)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1)— 
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘consult with’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘consult with—’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘other Federal’’ and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) other Federal’’; 

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

7 including those’’ and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(B) State and local agencies, including 

9 agencies’’; 

10 (D) by striking ‘‘consumer groups of and 

11 that serve’’ and inserting the following: 

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

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

14 inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(D) appropriate national’’; 

16 (F) by striking ‘‘persons who are deaf 

17 and’’ and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(E) individuals who are deaf or’’; 

19 (G) by striking ‘‘other qualified’’ and in20 serting the following: 

21 ‘‘(F) other qualified’’; 

22 (H) by striking ‘‘newborns, infants, tod23 dlers, children,’’ and inserting ‘‘children,’’; 

24 (I) by striking ‘‘third-party’’ and inserting 

25 the following: 
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1 ‘‘(G) third-party’’; and 

2 (J) by striking ‘‘related commercial’’ and 

3 inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(H) related commercial’’; and 

5 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘States to establish new7 born and infant’’ and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘States— 

9 ‘‘(A) to establish newborn, infant, and 

10 young child’’; 

11 (B) by inserting a semicolon after ‘‘sub12 section (a)’’; and 

13 (C) by striking ‘‘to develop’’ and inserting 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(B) to develop’’. 

16 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION; RELIGIOUS ACCOMMO17 DATION.—Section 399M(d) of the Public Health Service 

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

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

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

21 and 

22 (3) by striking ‘‘parents’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘par23 ent’s’’. 

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

25 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g–1(e)) is amended— 
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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

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

3 through ‘‘to procedures’’ and inserting the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘audiologic’, when used in con6 nection with evaluation, means procedures—’’; 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘to assess’’ and inserting 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) to assess’’; 

10 (C) by striking ‘‘to establish’’ and inserting 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(B) to establish’’; 

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

14 inserting ‘‘auditory disorder,’’; 

15 (E) by striking ‘‘to identify’’ and inserting 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(C) to identify’’; 

18 (F) by striking ‘‘options.’’ and all that fol19 lows through ‘‘linkage’’ and inserting the fol20 lowing: ‘‘options, including— 

21 ‘‘(i) linkage’’; 

22 (G) by striking ‘‘appropriate agencies,’’ 

23 and all that follows through ‘‘national’’ and in24 serting the following: ‘‘appropriate agencies; 

25 ‘‘(ii) medical evaluation; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) assessment for the full range of 

2 assistive hearing technologies appropriate 

3 for newborns, infants, and young children; 

4 ‘‘(iv) audiologic rehabilitation treat5 ment; and 

6 ‘‘(v) referral to national’’; and 

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

8 and inserting ‘‘parent, family, and education’’; 

9 (2) by striking paragraph (2); 

10 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

11 (6) as paragraphs (2) through (5); 

12 (4) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated by para13 graph (3) of this subsection)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘refers to providing’’ and 

15 inserting the following: ‘‘means— 

16 ‘‘(A) providing’’; 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘with hearing loss, includ18 ing nonmedical services,’’ and inserting ‘‘who is 

19 deaf or hard-of-hearing, including nonmedical 

20 services;’’; 

21 (C) by striking ‘‘ensuring that families of 

22 the child are provided’’ and inserting the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(B) ensuring that the family of the child 

25 is— 
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1 ‘‘(i) provided’’; 

2 (D) by striking ‘‘language and communica3 tion options and are given’’ and inserting the 

4 following: ‘‘language acquisition in oral and vis5 ual modalities; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) given’’; and 

7 (E) by striking ‘‘their child’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘the child’’; 

9 (5) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated by para10 graph (3) of this subsection), by striking ‘‘(3)’’ and 

11 all that follows through ‘‘decision making’’ and in12 serting ‘‘The term ‘medical evaluation’ means key 

13 components performed by a physician including his14 tory, examination, and medical decisionmaking’’; 

15 (6) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by para16 graph (3) of this subsection)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘refers to’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘means’’; 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘and/or surgical’’ and in20 serting ‘‘or surgical’’; and 

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

22 follows through ‘‘disorder’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

23 hearing loss or other medical disorders’’; and 

24 (7) in paragraph (5) (as redesignated by para25 graph (3) of this subsection)— 
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(5)’’ and all that follows 

2 through ‘‘refers to’’ and inserting ‘‘(5) The 

3 term ‘newborn, infant, and young child hearing 

4 screening’ means’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘and infants’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘, infants, and young children under 3 

7 years of age’’. 

8 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

9 399M(f) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 280g–1(f)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘such sums’’ 

12 and all that follows through the period and inserting 

13 ‘‘$17,818,000 for fiscal year 2018, $18,173,800 for 

14 fiscal year 2019, $18,628,145 for fiscal year 2020, 

15 $19,056,592 for fiscal year 2021, and $19,522,758 

16 for fiscal year 2022.’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘such sums’’ 

18 and all that follows through the period and inserting 

19 ‘‘$10,800,000 for fiscal year 2018, $11,026,800 for 

20 fiscal year 2019, $11,302,470 for fiscal year 2020, 
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1 $11,562,427 for fiscal year 2021, and $11,851,488 

2 for fiscal year 2022.’’. 

Passed the Senate September 6, 2017. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 652 

AN ACT 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauing newborns, infants, and young children. and treatment regarding deaf and hard-of-hear- thorize a program for early detection, diagnosis,