IC 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1440 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2012 

Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

AN ACT 

To reduce preterm labor and delivery and the risk of pregnancy-related deaths and complications due to pregnancy, 

and to reduce infant mortality caused by prematurity. 

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 ‘‘Prematurity Research 

3 Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants 

4 Early Reauthorization Act’’ or the ‘‘PREEMIE Reauthor5 ization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RESEARCH AND ACTIVITIES AT THE CENTERS FOR 

7 DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION. 

8 (a) EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES.—Section 3 of the 

9 Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for 

10 Mothers who deliver Infants Early Act (42 U.S.C. 247b– 

11 4f) is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(b) STUDIES AND ACTIVITIES ON PRETERM

14 BIRTH.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health 

16 and Human Services, acting through the Director of 

17 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

18 may, subject to the availability of appropriations— 

19 ‘‘(A) conduct epidemiological studies on 

20 the clinical, biological, social, environmental, ge21 netic, and behavioral factors relating to pre22 maturity, as appropriate; 

23 ‘‘(B) conduct activities to improve national 

24 data to facilitate tracking the burden of 

25 preterm birth; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) continue efforts to prevent preterm 

2 birth, including late preterm birth, through the 

3 identification of opportunities for prevention 

4 and the assessment of the impact of such ef5 forts. 

6 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

7 date of enactment of the PREEMIE Reauthoriza8 tion Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary 

9 of Health and Human Services, acting through the 

10 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre11 vention, shall submit to the appropriate committees 

12 of Congress reports concerning the progress and any 

13 results of studies conducted under paragraph (1).’’. 

14 (b) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 3(e) of the Pre15 maturity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers 

16 who deliver Infants Early Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–4f(e)) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘2011’’ and inserting ‘‘2017’’. 

18 SEC. 3. ACTIVITIES AT THE HEALTH RESOURCES AND 

19 SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. 

20 (a) TELEMEDICINE AND HIGH RISK PREG21 NANCIES.—Section 330I(i)(1)(B) of the Public Health 

22 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254c–14(i)(1)(B)) is amended by 

23 striking ‘‘or case management services’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘case management services, or prenatal care for high-risk 

25 pregnancies’’; 


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1 (b) PUBLIC AND HEALTH CARE PROVIDER EDU2 CATION.—Section 399Q of the Public Health Service Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 280g–5) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (b)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara6 graphs (A) through (F) and inserting the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(A) the core risk factors for preterm 

9 labor and delivery; 

10 ‘‘(B) medically indicated deliveries before 

11 full term; 

12 ‘‘(C) the importance of preconception and 

13 prenatal care, including— 

14 ‘‘(i) smoking cessation; 

15 ‘‘(ii) weight maintenance and good 

16 nutrition, including folic acid; 

17 ‘‘(iii) the screening for and the treat18 ment of infections; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) stress management; 

20 ‘‘(D) treatments and outcomes for pre21 mature infants, including late preterm infants; 

22 ‘‘(E) the informational needs of families 

23 during the stay of an infant in a neonatal in24 tensive care unit; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) utilization of evidence-based strate2 gies to prevent birth injuries;’’; and 

3 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) programs to increase the availability, 

6 awareness, and use of pregnancy and post-term in7 formation services that provide evidence-based, clin8 ical information through counselors, community out9 reach efforts, electronic or telephonic communica10 tion, or other appropriate means regarding causes 

11 associated with prematurity, birth defects, or health 

12 risks to a post-term infant;’’; and 

13 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘2011’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘2017’’. 

15 SEC. 4. OTHER ACTIVITIES. 

16 (a) INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL ON PRE17 MATURITY AND LOW BIRTHWEIGHT.—The Prematurity 

18 Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who de19 liver Infants Early Act is amended by striking section 5 

20 (42 U.S.C. 247b–4g). 

21 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON INFANT MOR22 TALITY.— 

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health 

24 and Human Services (referred to in this section as 

25 the ‘‘Secretary’’) may establish an advisory comVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:24 Nov 27, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1440.RFH S1440

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1 mittee known as the ‘‘Advisory Committee on Infant 

2 Mortality’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Advi3 sory Committee’’). 

4 (2) DUTIES.—The Advisory Committee shall 

5 provide advice and recommendations to the Sec6 retary concerning the following activities: 

7 (A) Programs of the Department of Health 

8 and Human Services that are directed at reduc9 ing infant mortality and improving the health 

10 status of pregnant women and infants. 

11 (B) Strategies to coordinate the various 

12 Federal programs and activities with State, 

13 local, and private programs and efforts that ad14 dress factors that affect infant mortality. 

15 (C) Implementation of the Healthy Start 

16 program under section 330H of the Public 

17 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254c–8) and 

18 Healthy People 2020 infant mortality objec19 tives. 

20 (D) Strategies to reduce preterm birth 

21 rates through research, programs, and edu22 cation. 

23 (3) PLAN FOR HHS PRETERM BIRTH ACTIVI24 TIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact25 ment of this section, the Advisory Committee (or an 


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1 existing advisory committee designated by the Sec2 retary) shall develop a plan for conducting and sup3 porting research, education, and programs on 

4 preterm birth through the Department of Health 

5 and Human Services and shall periodically review 

6 and revise the plan, as appropriate. The plan shall— 

7 (A) examine research and educational ac8 tivities that receive Federal funding in order to 

9 enable the plan to provide informed rec10 ommendations to reduce preterm birth and ad11 dress racial and ethnic disparities in preterm 

12 birth rates; 

13 (B) identify research gaps and opportuni14 ties to implement evidence-based strategies to 

15 reduce preterm birth rates among the programs 

16 and activities of the Department of Health and 

17 Human Services regarding preterm birth, in18 cluding opportunities to minimize duplication; 

19 and 

20 (C) reflect input from a broad range of sci21 entists, patients, and advocacy groups, as ap22 propriate. 

23 (4) MEMBERSHIP.—The Secretary shall ensure 

24 that the membership of the Advisory Committee in25 cludes the following: 


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1 (A) Representatives provided for in the 

2 original charter of the Advisory Committee. 

3 (B) A representative of the National Cen4 ter for Health Statistics. 

5 (c) PATIENT SAFETY STUDIES AND REPORT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall des7 ignate an appropriate agency within the Department 

8 of Health and Human Services to coordinate exist9 ing studies on hospital readmissions of preterm in10 fants. 

11 (2) REPORT TO SECRETARY AND CONGRESS.— 

12 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the agency designated under para14 graph (1) shall submit to the Secretary and to Con15 gress a report containing the findings and rec16 ommendations resulting from the studies coordi17 nated under such paragraph, including recommenda18 tions for hospital discharge and follow-up procedures 

19 designed to reduce rates of preventable hospital re20 admissions for preterm infants. 

Passed the Senate 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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