IIB 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1198 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 9, 2008 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions 
AN ACT 
To amend the Public Health Service Act regarding early 
detection, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing loss. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Early Hearing Detec-
tion and Intervention Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT 
OF HEARING LOSS. 
Section 399M of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 280g–1) is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘IN-
FANTS’’ and inserting ‘‘NEWBORNS
AND
IN-
FANTS’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘screening, evaluation and interven-
tion programs and systems’’ and inserting 
‘‘screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and interven-
tion programs and systems, and to assist in the 
recruitment, retention, education, and training 
of qualified personnel and health care pro-
viders,’’; 
(B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(1) To develop and monitor the efficacy of 
statewide programs and systems for hearing screen-
ing of newborns and infants; prompt evaluation and 
diagnosis of children referred from screening pro-
grams; and appropriate educational, audiological, 
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and medical interventions for children identified with 
hearing loss. Early intervention includes referral to 
and delivery of information and services by schools 
and agencies, including community, consumer, and 
parent-based agencies and organizations and other 
programs mandated by part C of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act, which offer pro-
grams specifically designed to meet the unique lan-
guage and communication needs of deaf and hard of 
hearing newborns, infants, toddlers, and children. 
Programs and systems under this paragraph shall 
establish and foster family-to-family support mecha-
nisms that are critical in the first months after a 
child is identified with hearing loss.’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) To develop efficient models to ensure that 
newborns and infants who are identified with a hear-
ing loss through screening receive follow-up by a 
qualified health care provider. These models shall be 
evaluated for their effectiveness, and State agencies 
shall be encouraged to adopt models that effectively 
increase the rate of occurrence of such follow-up. 
‘‘(4) To ensure an adequate supply of qualified 
personnel to meet the screening, evaluation, diag-
nosis, and early intervention needs of children.’’; 
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(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking 
‘‘hearing loss screening, evaluation, and inter-
vention programs’’ and inserting ‘‘hearing loss 
screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and interven-
tion programs’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘for purposes of this 
section, continue’’ and insert the following: 
‘‘for purposes of this section— 
‘‘(A) continue’’; 
(ii) by striking the period at the end 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(B) establish a postdoctoral fellowship 
program to foster research and development in 
the area of early hearing detection and inter-
vention.’’; 
(4) in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c), 
by striking the term ‘‘hearing screening, evaluation 
and intervention programs’’ each place such term 
appears and inserting ‘‘hearing screening, evalua-
tion, diagnosis, and intervention programs’’; 
(5) in subsection (e)— 
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(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘ensur-
ing that families of the child’’ and all that fol-
lows and inserting ‘‘ensuring that families of 
the child are provided comprehensive, con-
sumer-oriented information about the full range 
of family support, training, information serv-
ices, and language and communication options 
and are given the opportunity to consider and 
obtain the full range of such appropriate serv-
ices, educational and program placements, and 
other options for their child from highly quali-
fied providers.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘, after 
rescreening,’’; and 
(6) in subsection (f)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘fiscal 
year 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2009 
through 2014’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘fiscal 
year 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2009 
through 2014’’; and 
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(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘fiscal 
year 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2009 
through 2014’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 8, 2008. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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