I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1539 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize a program for early 
detection, diagnosis, and treatment regarding deaf and hard-of-hearing 
newborns, infants, and young children. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 15, 2017 
Mr. GUTHRIE (for himself and Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize a 
program for early detection, diagnosis, and treatment 
regarding deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, 
and young children. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Early Hearing Detec-
tion and Intervention Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) Deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, 
and young children require access to specialized 
early intervention providers and programs in order 
to help them meet their linguistic and cognitive po-
tential. 
(2) Families of deaf and hard-of-hearing 
newborns, infants, and young children benefit from 
comprehensive early intervention programs that as-
sist them in supporting their child’s development in 
all domains. 
(3) Best practices principles for early interven-
tion for deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, 
and young children have been identified in a range 
of areas, including listening and spoken language 
and visual and signed language acquisition, family- 
to-family support, support from individuals who are 
deaf or hard-of-hearing, progress monitoring, and 
others. 
(4) Effective hearing screening and early inter-
vention programs must be in place to identify hear-
ing levels in deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, in-
fants, and young children so that they may access 
appropriate early intervention programs in a timely 
manner. 
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SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM FOR EARLY DE-
TECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT RE-
GARDING 
DEAF 
AND 
HARD-OF-HEARING 
NEWBORNS, INFANTS, AND YOUNG CHIL-
DREN. 
Section 399M of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 280g–1) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 399M. EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREAT-
MENT 
REGARDING 
DEAF 
AND 
HARD-OF- 
HEARING NEWBORNS, INFANTS, AND YOUNG 
CHILDREN. 
‘‘(a) HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINIS-
TRATION.—The Secretary, acting through the Adminis-
trator of the Health Resources and Services Administra-
tion, shall make awards of grants or cooperative agree-
ments to develop statewide newborn, infant, and young 
childhood hearing screening, diagnosis, evaluation, and 
intervention programs and systems, and to assist in the 
recruitment, retention, education, and training of qualified 
personnel and health care providers (including education 
and training of family members) for the following pur-
poses: 
‘‘(1) To develop and monitor the efficacy of 
statewide programs and systems for hearing screen-
ing of newborns, infants, and young children, 
prompt evaluation and diagnosis of newborns, in-
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fants, and young children referred from screening 
programs, and appropriate educational, audiological, 
medical, and communications (or language acquisi-
tion) interventions (including family support) for 
newborns, infants, and young children identified as 
deaf or hard-of-hearing, consistent with the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) Early intervention includes referral 
to, and delivery of, information and services by 
organizations such as schools and agencies (in-
cluding community, consumer, and family-based 
agencies), medical homes for children, and 
other programs under part C of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
1431 et seq.), which offer programs specifically 
designed to meet the unique language and com-
munication needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing 
newborns, infants, and young children. 
‘‘(B) Information provided to parents shall 
be accurate, comprehensive, and, where appro-
priate, evidence-based, allowing families to 
make important decisions for their children in 
a timely way, including decisions relating to all 
possible assistive hearing technologies (such as 
hearing 
aids, 
cochlear 
implants, 
and 
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osseointegrated devices) and communication 
modalities (such as oral and visual communica-
tions and language acquisition services and pro-
grams). 
‘‘(C) Programs and systems under this 
paragraph shall offer mechanisms that foster 
family-to-family and deaf and hard-of-hearing 
consumer-to-family supports. 
‘‘(2) To continue to provide technical support to 
States, through one or more technical resource cen-
ters, to assist in further developing and enhancing 
State early hearing detection and intervention pro-
grams. 
‘‘(3) To identify or develop efficient models 
(educational and medical) to ensure that newborns, 
infants, and young children who are identified 
through screening as deaf or hard-of-hearing receive, 
as appropriate, follow-up by qualified early interven-
tion providers, qualified health care providers, or 
medical homes for children and referrals to early 
intervention services (including special education and 
related services, as appropriate) under part C of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 
U.S.C. 1431 et seq.). State agencies shall be encour-
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aged to effectively increase the rate of such follow- 
up and referral. 
‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, DATA MANAGEMENT, 
AND APPLIED RESEARCH.— 
‘‘(1) CENTERS
FOR
DISEASE
CONTROL
AND 
PREVENTION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, shall make awards of 
grants or cooperative agreements to provide 
technical assistance to State agencies or des-
ignated entities of States— 
‘‘(i) for the development, mainte-
nance, and improvement of data tracking 
and surveillance systems on newborn, in-
fant, and young childhood hearing screen-
ing, audiologic evaluations, medical evalua-
tions, language-acquisition evaluations, and 
intervention services; 
‘‘(ii) to conduct applied research re-
lated to services and outcomes; 
‘‘(iii) to provide technical assistance 
related to newborn, infant, and young 
childhood hearing screening, evaluation, 
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that can be used for applied research, pro-
gram evaluation, and policy development; 
‘‘(iv) to identify the causes and risk 
factors for congenital hearing loss; 
‘‘(v) to study the effectiveness of new-
born, infant, and young childhood hearing 
screening, audiologic evaluations, medical 
evaluations, and intervention programs and 
systems by assessing the health, intellec-
tual and social developmental, cognitive, 
and hearing status of children at school 
age; and 
‘‘(vi) to promote the integration, link-
age, and interoperability of data regarding 
early hearing loss and multiple sources to 
increase information exchanges between 
clinical care and public health, including 
the ability of States and territories to ex-
change 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 pro-
gram of research and development on the efficacy of 
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new screening techniques and technology, including 
clinical studies of screening methods, studies on the 
efficacy of intervention, 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 
agencies responsible for early intervention serv-
ices (including special education and related 
services, as appropriate) pursuant to title V of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) 
(Maternal and Child Health Services Block 
Grant), title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (Medicaid Early and Peri-
odic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Pro-
gram), title XXI of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.) (State Children’s Health 
Insurance Program), and part C of the Individ-
uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
1431 et seq.); 
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‘‘(C) consumer groups of, and that serve, 
individuals who are deaf and hard-of-hearing 
and their families; 
‘‘(D) appropriate national medical and 
other health and education specialty organiza-
tions; 
‘‘(E) individuals who are deaf or 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, young children, and their families; 
‘‘(G) third-party payers and managed-care 
organizations; and 
‘‘(H) related commercial industries. 
‘‘(2) POLICY
DEVELOPMENT.—The Adminis-
trator of the Health Resources and Services Admin-
istration, the Director of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, and the Director of the Na-
tional Institutes of Health shall coordinate and col-
laborate on recommendations for policy development 
at the Federal and State levels and with the private 
sector, including consumer, medical, and other 
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health and education professional-based organiza-
tions, with respect to newborn and infant hearing 
screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention 
programs and systems. 
‘‘(3) STATE
EARLY
DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, 
AND INTERVENTION PROGRAMS AND SYSTEMS; DATA 
COLLECTION.—The Administrator of the Health Re-
sources and Services Administration and the Direc-
tor of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion shall coordinate 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)(1). 
‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION; RELIGIOUS ACCOM-
MODATION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
preempt or prohibit any State law, including State laws 
that do not require the screening for hearing loss of 
newborns, infants, or young children of any parent who 
objects to the screening on the grounds that such screen-
ing conflicts with the parent’s religious beliefs. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
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‘‘(1) The term ‘audiologic’, when used in con-
nection with evaluation, means procedures— 
‘‘(A) to assess the status of the auditory 
system; 
‘‘(B) to establish the site of the auditory 
disorder, the type and degree of hearing loss, 
and the potential effects of hearing loss on com-
munication; and 
‘‘(C) to identify appropriate treatment and 
referral options, including— 
‘‘(i) linkage to State agencies coordi-
nating the programs under part C of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 
(20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) or other appro-
priate agencies; 
‘‘(ii) medical evaluation; 
‘‘(iii) hearing aid or sensory aid as-
sessment; 
‘‘(iv) audiologic rehabilitation treat-
ment; and 
‘‘(v) referral to national and local con-
sumer, self-help, family, and education or-
ganizations, and other family-centered 
services. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘early intervention’ means— 
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