I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2501 
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide States with the 
option of providing medical assistance at a residential pediatric recovery 
center to infants under 1 year of age with neonatal abstinence syndrome 
and their families. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2017 
Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia (for himself, Mr. TURNER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, 
and Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide 
States with the option of providing medical assistance 
at a residential pediatric recovery center to infants under 
1 year of age with neonatal abstinence syndrome and 
their families. 
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 ‘‘Caring Recovery for 
Infants and Babies Act’’ or the ‘‘CRIB Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) Neonatal abstinence syndrome (referred to 
in this section as ‘‘NAS’’) is a group of conditions 
a newborn can have if the newborn was exposed to 
drugs, including opioids while in the womb before 
birth. 
(2) According to a report of the Government 
Accountability Office (referred to in this section as 
the ‘‘GAO report’’) symptoms of NAS include irrita-
bility, loud crying, stiffness, sweating, vomiting, di-
arrhea, poor feeding, seizures, and respiratory dis-
tress. 
(3) According to the GAO report, it is rec-
ommended that newborns with NAS receive a thor-
ough evaluation and specialized and innovative treat-
ment, when warranted. 
(4) According to the GAO report, there is a 
program gap of available treatment programs for 
both pregnant women and newborns with NAS. 
(5) According to the GAO report, newborns 
with NAS stayed in the hospital on average 16 days 
with an average hospital bill of $53,000. 
(6) According to GAO reports, NAS has more 
than quadrupled in the past decade, increasing from 
1.2 per 1,000 hospital births per year in 2000 to 5.8 
per 1,000 hospital births per year in 2012 and some 
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regional 
studies 
have 
reported 
much 
higher 
incidences. 
(7) Addressing the treatment of infants diag-
nosed with NAS will take innovative, specialized, 
and collaborative efforts. 
(8) In July 2016, Congress passed, and the 
President signed into law, the Comprehensive Addic-
tion and Recovery Act (Public Law 114–198), which 
examines how infants with NAS are cared for (in-
cluding available options through State Medicaid 
programs), assesses the different medical care mod-
els and settings to treat NAS, and prioritizes finding 
best practices for treating infants with NAS. 
SEC. 3. MEDICAID STATE PLAN OPTION TO ENTER INTO 
PROVIDER AGREEMENTS WITH RESIDENTIAL 
PEDIATRIC RECOVERY CENTERS. 
(a) STATE PLAN AMENDMENT.—Section 1902(a) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (82), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 
the semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (83), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (83), the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
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‘‘(84) provide, at the option of the State, for 
making medical assistance available on an inpatient 
or outpatient basis at a residential pediatric recovery 
center (as defined in subsection (nn)) for infants 
who are under 1 year of age with neonatal absti-
nence syndrome and their families.’’. 
(b) RESIDENTIAL PEDIATRIC RECOVERY CENTER 
DEFINED.—Section 1902 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(nn) RESIDENTIAL PEDIATRIC RECOVERY CENTER 
DEFINED.—For purposes of section 1902(a)(84), the 
term ‘residential pediatric recovery center’ means a center 
or facility that furnishes items and services for which med-
ical assistance is available under the State plan to infants 
who are under 1 year of age with the diagnosis of neonatal 
abstinence syndrome without any other significant medical 
risk factors and to the families of such infants.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section take effect on October 1, 2017, and shall apply 
to medical assistance furnished on or after that date with-
out regard to whether or not final regulations to carry out 
such amendments have been promulgated by such date. 
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SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that residential pediatric 
recovery centers (as defined in section 1902(nn) of the So-
cial Security Act, as added by section 3(b)) should offer 
counseling and other services to mothers (and other appro-
priate family members and caretakers) of infants receiving 
treatment at such centers. Such services may include the 
following: 
(1) Counseling or referrals for services. 
(2) Activities to encourage mother-infant bond-
ing. 
(3) Training on caring for such infants. 
Æ 
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