IC 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 252 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 

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 ‘‘$5,000,000’’ and all that follows 

18 through ‘‘2011.’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,880,000 for each of 

19 fiscal years 2014 through 2018.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. ACTIVITIES AT THE HEALTH RESOURCES AND 

21 SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. 

22 (a) TELEMEDICINE AND HIGH-RISK PREG23 NANCIES.—Section 330I(i)(1)(B) of the Public Health 

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

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


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

2 pregnancies’’; 

3 (b) PUBLIC AND HEALTH CARE PROVIDER EDU4 CATION.—Section 399Q of the Public Health Service Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 280g–5) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (b)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara8 graphs (A) through (F) and inserting the fol9 lowing: 

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

11 labor and delivery; 

12 ‘‘(B) medically indicated deliveries before 

13 full term; 

14 ‘‘(C) the importance of preconception and 

15 prenatal care, including— 

16 ‘‘(i) smoking cessation; 

17 ‘‘(ii) weight maintenance and good 

18 nutrition, including folic acid; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the screening for and the treat20 ment of infections; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) stress management; 

22 ‘‘(D) treatments and outcomes for pre23 mature infants, including late preterm infants; 


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1 ‘‘(E) the informational needs of families 

2 during the stay of an infant in a neonatal in3 tensive care unit; and 

4 ‘‘(F) utilization of evidence-based strate5 gies to prevent birth injuries;’’; and 

6 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert7 ing the following: 

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

9 awareness, and use of pregnancy and post-term in10 formation services that provide evidence-based, clin11 ical information through counselors, community out12 reach efforts, electronic or telephonic communica13 tion, or other appropriate means regarding causes 

14 associated with prematurity, birth defects, or health 

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

16 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘$5,000,000’’ 

17 and all that follows through ‘‘2011.’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘$1,900,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 

19 2018.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. OTHER ACTIVITIES. 

21 (a) INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL ON PRE22 MATURITY AND LOW BIRTHWEIGHT.—The Prematurity 

23 Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who de24 liver Infants Early Act is amended by striking section 5 

25 (42 U.S.C. 247b–4g). 


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1 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON INFANT MOR2 TALITY.— 

3 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health 

4 and Human Services (referred to in this section as 

5 the ‘‘Secretary’’) may establish an advisory com6 mittee known as the ‘‘Advisory Committee on Infant 

7 Mortality’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Advi8 sory Committee’’). 

9 (2) DUTIES.—The Advisory Committee shall 

10 provide advice and recommendations to the Sec11 retary concerning the following activities: 

12 (A) Programs of the Department of Health 

13 and Human Services that are directed at reduc14 ing infant mortality and improving the health 

15 status of pregnant women and infants. 

16 (B) Strategies to coordinate the various 

17 Federal programs and activities with State, 

18 local, and private programs and efforts that ad19 dress factors that affect infant mortality. 

20 (C) Implementation of the Healthy Start 

21 program under section 330H of the Public 

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

23 Healthy People 2020 infant mortality objec24 tives. 


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1 (D) Strategies to reduce preterm birth 

2 rates through research, programs, and edu3 cation. 

4 (3) PLAN FOR HHS PRETERM BIRTH ACTIVI5 TIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact6 ment of this section, the Advisory Committee (or an 

7 advisory committee in existence as of the date of en8 actment of this Act and designated by the Secretary) 

9 shall develop a plan for conducting and supporting 

10 research, education, and programs on preterm birth 

11 through the Department of Health and Human 

12 Services and shall periodically review and revise the 

13 plan, as appropriate. The plan shall— 

14 (A) examine research and educational ac15 tivities that receive Federal funding in order to 

16 enable the plan to provide informed rec17 ommendations to reduce preterm birth and ad18 dress racial and ethnic disparities in preterm 

19 birth rates; 

20 (B) identify research gaps and opportuni21 ties to implement evidence-based strategies to 

22 reduce preterm birth rates among the programs 

23 and activities of the Department of Health and 

24 Human Services regarding preterm birth, inVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:17 Sep 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S252.RFH S252

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1 cluding opportunities to minimize duplication; 

2 and 

3 (C) reflect input from a broad range of sci4 entists, patients, and advocacy groups, as ap5 propriate. 

6 (4) MEMBERSHIP.—The Secretary shall ensure 

7 that the membership of the Advisory Committee in8 cludes the following: 

9 (A) Representatives provided for in the 

10 original charter of the Advisory Committee. 

11 (B) A representative of the National Cen12 ter for Health Statistics. 

13 (c) PATIENT SAFETY STUDIES AND REPORT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall des15 ignate an appropriate agency within the Department 

16 of Health and Human Services to coordinate exist17 ing studies on hospital readmissions of preterm in18 fants. 

19 (2) REPORT TO SECRETARY AND CONGRESS.— 

20 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the agency designated under para22 graph (1) shall submit to the Secretary and to Con23 gress a report containing the findings and rec24 ommendations resulting from the studies coordi25 nated under such paragraph, including recommendaVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:17 Sep 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S252.RFH S252

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1 tions for hospital discharge and followup procedures 

2 designed to reduce rates of preventable hospital re3 admissions for preterm infants. 

Passed the Senate September 25 (legislative day, 

September 24), 2013. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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