I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3024 
To amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to provide States 
with the option to provide nurse home visitation services under Medicaid 
and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 12, 2007 
Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Mr. SALAZAR, Mrs. CAPPS, and Mr. TIM MURPHY 
of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act 
to provide States with the option to provide nurse home 
visitation services under Medicaid and the State Chil-
dren’s Health Insurance Program. 
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 ‘‘Healthy Children and 
Families Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
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(1) Medicaid and the State Children’s Health 
Insurance Program have collectively provided health 
insurance coverage to over 38,000,000 low-income 
pregnant women and children. 
(2) Evidence-based nurse home visitation pro-
grams can improve the health status of low-income 
pregnant women and children enrolled in Medicaid 
and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program 
by promoting access to prenatal and well-baby care, 
reducing pre-term births, reducing high-risk preg-
nancies, increasing time intervals between first and 
subsequent births, and improving child cognitive, so-
cial, and behavioral skills and development. 
(3) In addition to health benefits, evidence- 
based nurse home visitation programs have been 
proven to increase maternal employment and eco-
nomic self-sufficiency and significantly reduce child 
abuse and neglect, child arrests, maternal arrests, 
and involvement in the criminal justice system. 
(4) Evidence-based nurse home visitation pro-
grams are cost effective, yielding a 5-to-1 return on 
investment for every dollar spent on services, and 
producing a net benefit to society of $34,000 per 
high risk family served. 
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(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to encour-
age States to utilize evidence-based nurse home visitation 
services for low-income pregnant mothers and children 
to— 
(1) improve the prenatal health of children; 
(2) improve pregnancy outcomes; 
(3) improve child health and development; 
(4) improve child development and mental 
health related to elementary school readiness; 
(5) improve family stability and economic self- 
sufficiency; 
(6) reduce the incidence of child abuse and ne-
glect; 
(7) reduce maternal and child involvement in 
the criminal justice system; and 
(8) increase birth intervals between preg-
nancies. 
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL OPTIONS FOR STATES TO PROVIDE 
NURSE HOME VISITATION SERVICES. 
(a) SCHIP.—Section 2110(a)(15) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1397jj(a)(15)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(15)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B)(i) Evidence-based nurse home visitation 
services (such as services related to improving pre-
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natal health, pregnancy outcomes, child health and 
development, school readiness, family stability and 
economic self-sufficiency, reducing child abuse, ne-
glect, and injury, reducing maternal and child in-
volvement in the criminal justice system, and in-
creasing birth intervals between pregnancies) on be-
half of a targeted low-income child who has not at-
tained age 2 and is the first live birth to a biological 
mother, but only if such services are provided in ac-
cordance with outcome standards that have been 
replicated in multiple, rigorous, randomized con-
trolled trials in multiple sites, with outcomes that 
improve prenatal health of children, pregnancy out-
comes, child health, child development, academic 
achievement, and mental health, reduce child abuse, 
neglect, and injury, reduce maternal and child in-
volvement in the criminal justice system, increase 
birth intervals between pregnancies, and improve 
maternal employment.’’. 
(b) MEDICAID.—Section 1905(a) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (27), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (28) as para-
graph (29); and 
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(3) by inserting after paragraph (27) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(28) evidence-based nurse home visitation 
services (such as services related to improving pre-
natal health, pregnancy outcomes, child health and 
development, school readiness, family stability and 
economic self-sufficiency, reducing child abuse, ne-
glect, and injury, reducing maternal and child in-
volvement in the criminal justice system, and in-
creasing birth intervals between pregnancies) for a 
first-time pregnant woman or on behalf of a child 
who has not attained age 2 and is the first live birth 
to a biological mother, but only if such services are 
provided in accordance with outcome standards that 
have been replicated in multiple, rigorous, random-
ized controlled trials in multiple sites, with outcomes 
that improve prenatal health of children, pregnancy 
outcomes, child health, child development, academic 
achievement, and mental health, reduce child abuse, 
neglect, and injury, reduce maternal and child in-
volvement in the criminal justice system, increase 
birth intervals between pregnancies, and improve 
maternal employment; and’’. 
(c) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 
amendments made by this Act shall be construed as affect-
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