II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3199 

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

and treatment of hearing loss. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 14, 2010 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. HARKIN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

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 2010’’. 

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

7 OF HEARING LOSS. 

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

9 U.S.C. 280g–1) is amended— 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 3199 IS

1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘IN2 FANTS’’ and inserting ‘‘NEWBORNS AND IN3 FANTS’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

6 by striking ‘‘screening, evaluation and interven7 tion programs and systems’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and interven9 tion programs and systems, and to assist in the 

10 recruitment, retention, education, and training 

11 of qualified personnel and health care pro12 viders,’’; 

13 (B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

14 follows: 

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

16 statewide programs and systems for hearing screen17 ing of newborns and infants; prompt evaluation and 

18 diagnosis of children referred from screening pro19 grams; and appropriate educational, audiological, 

20 and medical interventions for children identified with 

21 hearing loss. Early intervention includes referral to 

22 and delivery of information and services by schools 

23 and agencies, including community, consumer, and 

24 parent-based agencies and organizations and other 

25 programs mandated by part C of the Individuals 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 3199 IS

1 with Disabilities Education Act, which offer pro2 grams specifically designed to meet the unique lan3 guage and communication needs of deaf and hard of 

4 hearing newborns, infants, toddlers, and children. 

5 Programs and systems under this paragraph shall 

6 establish and foster family-to-family support mecha7 nisms that are critical in the first months after a 

8 child is identified with hearing loss.’’; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

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

11 newborns and infants who are identified with a hear12 ing loss through screening receive follow-up by a 

13 qualified health care provider. These models shall be 

14 evaluated for their effectiveness, and State agencies 

15 shall be encouraged to adopt models that effectively 

16 increase the rate of occurrence of such follow-up. 

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

18 personnel to meet the screening, evaluation, diag19 nosis, and early intervention needs of children.’’; 

20 (3) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘hear21 ing loss screening, evaluation, and intervention pro22 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘hearing loss screening, eval23 uation, diagnosis, and intervention programs’’; 

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

25 by striking the term ‘‘hearing screening, evaluation 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 3199 IS

1 and intervention programs’’ each place such term 

2 appears and inserting ‘‘hearing screening, evalua3 tion, diagnosis, and intervention programs’’; 

4 (5) in subsection (e)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘ensur6 ing that families of the child’’ and all that fol7 lows and inserting ‘‘ensuring that families of 

8 the child are provided comprehensive, con9 sumer-oriented information about the full range 

10 of family support, training, information serv11 ices, and language and communication options 

12 and are given the opportunity to consider and 

13 obtain the full range of such appropriate serv14 ices, educational and program placements, and 

15 other options for their child from highly quali16 fied providers.’’; and 

17 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘, after 

18 rescreening,’’; and 

19 (6) in subsection (f)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘fiscal 

21 year 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2010 

22 through 2015’’; 

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

24 year 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2010 

25 through 2015’’; and 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 3199 IS

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

2 year 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2010 

3 through 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 3. POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

5 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

7 section 399M the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 399M-1. POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM IN 

9 THE AREA OF EARLY HEARING DETECTION 

10 AND INTERVENTION. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

12 postdoctoral fellowship program to foster research and de13 velopment in the area of early hearing detection and inter14 vention. 

15 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

17 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS