IB 
Union Calendar No. 347 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1198 
[Report No. 110–565] 
To amend the Public Health Service Act regarding early detection, diagnosis, 
and treatment of hearing loss. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2007 
Mrs. CAPPS (for herself, Mr. WALSH of New York, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. 
EHLERS, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, 
Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, 
Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. SMITH of New Jer-
sey, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. 
KUHL of New York, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. ESHOO, and Mr. BACHUS) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce 
APRIL 8, 2008 
Additional sponsors: Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. PORTER, Mr. FORBES, Mr. ALLEN, 
Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. UPTON, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. KING 
of New York, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. HONDA, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, Mr. 
DOYLE, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. JINDAL, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. MARSHALL, Mrs. 
WILSON of New Mexico, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, 
Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. 
ISRAEL, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. FER-
GUSON, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BILI-
RAKIS, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. CAMP of Michigan, 
Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. REYNOLDS, and Mr. 
WYNN 
APRIL 8, 2008 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 27, 2007] 
A BILL 
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, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Early Hearing Detection 
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 
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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 state-
wide programs and systems for hearing screening of 
newborns and infants; prompt evaluation and diag-
nosis of children referred from screening programs; 
and appropriate educational, audiological, and med-
ical interventions for children identified with hearing 
loss. Early intervention includes referral to and deliv-
ery of information and services by schools and agen-
cies, including community, consumer, and parent- 
based agencies and organizations and other programs 
mandated by part C of the Individuals with Disabil-
ities Education Act, which offer programs specifically 
designed to meet the unique language and commu-
nication needs of deaf and hard of hearing newborns, 
infants, toddlers, and children. Programs and systems 
under this paragraph shall establish and foster fam-
ily-to-family support mechanisms that are critical in 
the first months after a child is identified with hear-
ing loss.’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(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, diagnosis, 
and early intervention needs of children.’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘hear-
ing loss screening, evaluation, and intervention 
programs’’ and inserting ‘‘hearing loss screening, 
evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention pro-
grams’’; 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: 
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‘‘(B) establish a postdoctoral fellowship pro-
gram to foster research and development in the 
area of early hearing detection and interven-
tion.’’; 
(4) in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c), 
by striking the term ‘‘hearing screening, evaluation 
and intervention programs’’ each place such term ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘hearing screening, evaluation, 
diagnosis, and intervention programs’’; 
(5) in subsection (e)— 
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘ensuring 
that families of the child’’ and all that follows 
and inserting ‘‘ensuring that families of the child 
are provided comprehensive, consumer-oriented 
information about the full range of family sup-
port, training, information services, and lan-
guage and communication options and are given 
the opportunity to consider and obtain the full 
range of such appropriate services, educational 
and program placements, and other options for 
their child from highly qualified providers.’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘, after 
rescreening,’’; and 
(6) in subsection (f)— 
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(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 
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘fiscal 
year 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2009 
through 2014’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 347 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1198 
[Report No. 110–565] 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act regarding 
early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of hear-
ing loss. 
APRIL 8, 2008 
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 Aug 31 2005 
01:32 Apr 09, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
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