‘‘(B) to continue development and enhance-
ment of State early hearing detection and inter-
vention programs. 
‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, DATA MANAGEMENT, 
AND APPLIED RESEARCH.— 
‘‘(1) CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PRE-
VENTION.—The Secretary, acting through the Director 
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
shall make awards of grants or cooperative agree-
ments to State agencies or their designated entities for 
development, maintenance, and improvement of data 
tracking and surveillance systems on newborn, infant, 
and young childhood hearing screenings, audiologic 
evaluations, medical evaluations, and intervention 
services; to conduct applied research related to serv-
ices and outcomes, and provide technical assistance 
related to newborn, infant, and young childhood hear-
ing screening, evaluation, and intervention programs, 
and information systems; to ensure high-quality mon-
itoring of hearing screening, evaluation, and inter-
vention programs and systems for newborns, infants, 
and young children; and to coordinate developing 
standardized procedures for data management and 
assessing program and cost effectiveness. The awards 
under the preceding sentence may be used— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) to provide technical assistance on data 
collection and management; 
‘‘(B) to study and report on the costs and 
effectiveness of newborn, infant, and young child-
hood hearing screening, evaluation, diagnosis, 
intervention programs, and systems; 
‘‘(C) to collect data and report on newborn, 
infant, and young childhood hearing screening, 
evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs 
and systems that can be used— 
‘‘(i) for applied research, program 
evaluation, and policy development; and 
‘‘(ii) to answer issues of importance to 
State and national policymakers; 
‘‘(D) to identify the causes and risk factors 
for congenital hearing loss; 
‘‘(E) to study the effectiveness of newborn, 
infant, and young childhood hearing screening, 
audiologic evaluations, medical evaluations, and 
intervention programs and systems by assessing 
the health, intellectual and social developmental, 
cognitive, and hearing status of these children at 
school age; and 
‘‘(F) to promote the integration, linkage, 
and interoperability of data regarding early 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
hearing loss and multiple sources to increase in-
formation exchanges between clinical care and 
public health including the ability of States and 
territories to exchange and share data. 
‘‘(2) NATIONAL
INSTITUTES
OF
HEALTH.—The 
Director of the National Institutes of Health, acting 
through the Director of the National Institute on 
Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, shall, 
for purposes of this section, continue a program of re-
search and development related to early hearing detec-
tion and intervention, including development of tech-
nologies and clinical studies of screening methods, ef-
ficacy of interventions, and related research. 
‘‘(c) COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out programs 
under this section, the Administrator of the Health 
Resources and Services Administration, the Director 
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
and the Director of the National Institutes of Health 
shall collaborate and consult with— 
‘‘(A) other Federal agencies; 
‘‘(B) State and local agencies, including 
those responsible for early intervention services 
pursuant to title XIX of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (Medicaid Early and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment 
Program); title XXI of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.) (State Children’s 
Health Insurance Program); title V of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) (Maternal 
and Child Health Block Grant Program); and 
part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.); 
‘‘(C) consumer groups of and that serve in-
dividuals who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and 
their families; 
‘‘(D) appropriate national medical and 
other health and education specialty organiza-
tions; 
‘‘(E) persons who are deaf and hard-of- 
hearing and their families; 
‘‘(F) other qualified professional personnel 
who are proficient in deaf or hard-of-hearing 
children’s language and who possess the special-
ized knowledge, skills, and attributes needed to 
serve deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, in-
fants, toddlers, children, and their families; 
‘‘(G) third-party payers and managed-care 
organizations; and 
‘‘(H) related commercial industries. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) POLICY DEVELOPMENT.—The Administrator 
of the Health Resources and Services Administration, 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, and the Director of the National Insti-
tutes of Health shall coordinate and collaborate on 
recommendations for policy development at the Fed-
eral and State levels and with the private sector, in-
cluding consumer, medical, and other health and edu-
cation professional-based organizations, with respect 
to newborn, infant, and young childhood hearing 
screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention 
programs and systems. 
‘‘(3) STATE EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND 
INTERVENTION PROGRAMS AND SYSTEMS; DATA COL-
LECTION.—The Administrator of the Health Resources 
and Services Administration and the Director of the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall co-
ordinate and collaborate in assisting States— 
‘‘(A) to establish newborn, infant, and 
young childhood hearing screening, evaluation, 
diagnosis, and intervention programs and sys-
tems under subsection (a); and 
‘‘(B) to develop a data collection system 
under subsection (b). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION; RELIGIOUS ACCOMMO-
DATION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to pre-
empt or prohibit any State law, including State laws which 
do not require the screening for hearing loss of newborns, 
infants, or young children of parents who object to the 
screening on the grounds that such screening conflicts with 
the parents’ religious beliefs. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘audiologic’, when used in connec-
tion with evaluation, refers to procedures— 
‘‘(A) to assess the status of the auditory sys-
tem; 
‘‘(B) to establish the site of the auditory dis-
order, the type and degree of hearing loss, and 
the potential effects of hearing loss on commu-
nication; and 
‘‘(C) to identify appropriate treatment and 
referral options, including— 
‘‘(i) linkage to State coordinating 
agencies under part C of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
1431 et seq.) or other appropriate agencies; 
‘‘(ii) medical evaluation; 
‘‘(iii) hearing aid/sensory aid assess-
ment; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(iv) audiologic rehabilitation treat-
ment; and 
‘‘(v) referral to national and local con-
sumer, self-help, parent, and education or-
ganizations, and other family-centered serv-
ices. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘early intervention’ refers to— 
‘‘(A) providing appropriate services for the 
child who is deaf or hard of hearing, including 
nonmedical services; and 
‘‘(B) ensuring the family of the child is— 
‘‘(i) 
provided 
comprehensive, 
con-
sumer-oriented information about the full 
range of family support, training, informa-
tion services, and language and commu-
nication options; and 
‘‘(ii) given the opportunity to consider 
and obtain the full range of such appro-
priate services, educational and program 
placements, and other options for their child 
from highly qualified providers. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘medical evaluation’ refers to key 
components performed by a physician, including his-
tory, examination, and medical decisionmaking fo-
cused on symptomatic and related body systems for 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
the purpose of diagnosing the etiology of hearing loss 
and related physical conditions, and for identifying 
appropriate treatment and referral options. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘medical intervention’ refers to the 
process by which a physician provides medical diag-
nosis and direction for medical or surgical treatment 
options for hearing loss or related medical disorders. 
‘‘(5) The term ‘newborn, infant, and young 
childhood hearing screening’ refers to objective physio-
logic procedures to detect possible hearing loss and to 
identify newborns, infants, and young children who 
require further audiologic evaluations and medical 
evaluations. 
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) STATEWIDE NEWBORN, INFANT, AND YOUNG 
CHILDHOOD HEARING SCREENING, EVALUATION AND 
INTERVENTION
PROGRAMS
AND
SYSTEMS.—For the 
purpose of carrying out subsection (a), there is au-
thorized to be appropriated to the Health Resources 
and Services Administration $17,800,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 
‘‘(2) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE, DATA
MANAGE-
MENT, AND APPLIED RESEARCH; CENTERS FOR DIS-
EASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION.—For the purpose of 
carrying out subsection (b)(1), there is authorized to 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
be appropriated to the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention $10,800,000 for each of fiscal years 
2016 through 2020. 
‘‘(3) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE, DATA
MANAGE-
MENT, AND APPLIED RESEARCH; NATIONAL INSTITUTE 
ON
DEAFNESS
AND
OTHER
COMMUNICATION
DIS-
ORDERS.—No additional funds are authorized to be 
appropriated for the purpose of carrying out sub-
section (b)(2). Such subsection shall be carried out 
using funds which are otherwise authorized (under 
section 402A or other provisions of law) to be appro-
priated for such purpose.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6203
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 182 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 1344 
[Report No. 114–241] 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reau-
thorize a program for early detection, diagnosis, 
and treatment regarding deaf and hard-of-hear-
ing newborns, infants, and young children. 
SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:19 Sep 09, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 6651
Sfmt 6651
E:\BILLS\H1344.RH
H1344
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS