I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5250 

To amend the Public Health Service Act regarding early detection, diagnosis, 

and treatment of hearing loss. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2006 

Mr. WALSH (for himself, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mrs. CAPPS, Mrs. MCCARTHY, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. WAXMAN, 

Mr. PALLONE, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. 

BOEHLERT, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. FARR, Mr. 

BACHUS, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. SWEENEY, 

Mr. KUHL of New York, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. WYNN, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. 

REYNOLDS, Mrs. KELLY, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, and Mr. GENE

GREEN of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act regarding early 

detection, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing loss. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Early Hearing Detec5 tion and Intervention Act of 2006’’. 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5250 IH

1 SEC. 2. EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT 

2 OF HEARING LOSS. 

3 Section 399M of the Public Health Service Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 280g–1) is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘IN6 FANTS’’ and inserting ‘‘NEWBORNS, INFANTS, 

7 AND YOUNG CHILDREN’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘NEWBORN

10 AND INFANT’’ and inserting ‘‘NEWBORN, IN11 FANT, AND YOUNG CHILD’’; 

12 (B) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

13 by striking ‘‘newborn and infant hearing screen14 ing, evaluation and intervention programs and 

15 systems’’ and inserting ‘‘newborn, infant, and 

16 young child hearing screening, evaluation, diag17 nosis, and intervention programs and systems, 

18 and to assist in the recruitment, retention, edu19 cation, and training of qualified personnel and 

20 health care providers,’’; and 

21 (C) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

22 follows: 

23 ‘‘(1) To develop and monitor the efficacy of 

24 statewide programs and systems for hearing screen25 ing of newborns, infants, and young children; 

26 prompt evaluation and diagnosis of children referred 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5250 IH

1 from screening programs; and appropriate edu2 cational, audiological, and medical interventions for 

3 children identified with hearing loss. Early interven4 tion includes referral to and delivery of information 

5 and services by schools and agencies, including com6 munity, consumer, and parent-based agencies and 

7 organizations and other programs mandated by part 

8 C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 

9 which offer programs specifically designed to meet 

10 the unique language and communication needs of 

11 deaf and hard of hearing newborns, infants, and 

12 young children. Programs and systems under this 

13 paragraph shall establish and foster family-to-family 

14 support mechanisms that are critical in the first 

15 months after a child is identified with hearing loss.’’; 

16 (D) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘new17 born and infant’’ and inserting ‘‘newborn, in18 fant, and young child’’; and 

19 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(3) To develop efficient models to ensure that 

21 newborns, infants, and young children who are iden22 tified with a hearing loss through screening are not 

23 lost to follow-up by a qualified health care provider. 

24 These models shall be evaluated for their effective25 ness, and State agencies shall be encouraged to 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5250 IH

1 adopt models that effectively reduce loss to follow2 up. 

3 ‘‘(4) To ensure an adequate supply of qualified 

4 personnel to meet the screening, evaluation, and 

5 early intervention needs of children.’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (b)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (i) by striking the term ‘‘newborn and 

9 infant’’ each place such term appears and 

10 inserting ‘‘newborn, infant, and young 

11 child’’; and 

12 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

13 ‘‘hearing loss screening, evaluation, and 

14 intervention programs’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘hearing loss screening, evaluation, diag16 nosis, and intervention programs’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘for purposes of this 

19 section, continue’’ and insert the following: 

20 ‘‘for purposes of this section— 

21 ‘‘(A) continue’’; 

22 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

23 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (iii) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5250 IH

1 ‘‘(B) establish a postdoctoral fellowship 

2 program to foster research and development in 

3 the area of early hearing detection and inter4 vention.’’; 

5 (4) in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c), 

6 by striking the term ‘‘newborn and infant hearing 

7 screening, evaluation and intervention programs’’ 

8 each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘new9 born, infant, and young child hearing screening, 

10 evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs’’; 

11 and 

12 (5) in subsection (e)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘ensur14 ing that families of the child’’ and all that fol15 lows and inserting ‘‘ensuring that families of 

16 the child are provided comprehensive, con17 sumer-oriented information about the full range 

18 of family support, training, information serv19 ices, and language and communication options 

20 and are given the opportunity to consider and 

21 obtain the full range of early intervention serv22 ices, educational and program placements, and 

23 other options for their child from highly quali24 fied providers.’’; and 

25 (B) in paragraph (6)— 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
6 

•HR 5250 IH

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

2 and inserting ‘‘newborn, infant, and young 

3 child’’; 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘newborns and in5 fants’’ and inserting ‘‘newborns, infants, 

6 and young children’’; and 

7 (iii) by striking ‘‘, after rescreening,’’; 

8 and 

9 (6) in subsection (f)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘NEW12 BORN AND INFANT’’ and inserting ‘‘NEW13 BORN, INFANT, AND YOUNG CHILD’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2002’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2007 through 

16 2012’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘fiscal 

18 year 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2007 

19 through 2012’’; and 

20 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘fiscal 

21 year 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2007 

22 through 2012’’. 

Æ 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS