Title: CRIB Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Caring Recovery for Infants and Babies Act or the CRIB Act
This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow a state Medicaid program to cover inpatient or outpatient services at a residential pediatric recovery center for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (a postnatal drug withdrawal syndrome) and their families.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2501 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives 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:
            (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 irritability, loud crying, stiffness, 
        sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, poor feeding, seizures, and 
        respiratory distress.
            (3) According to the GAO report, it is recommended that 
        newborns with NAS receive a thorough evaluation and specialized 
        and innovative treatment, 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 regional studies have reported much 
        higher incidences.
            (7) Addressing the treatment of infants diagnosed with NAS 
        will take innovative, specialized, and collaborative efforts.
            (8) In July 2016, Congress passed, and the President signed 
        into law, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (Public 
        Law 114-198), which examines how infants with NAS are cared for 
        (including available options through State Medicaid programs), 
        assesses the different medical care models 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 amended--
            (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 following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(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 abstinence 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 subsection:
    ``(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 medical 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 without regard to whether or not final 
regulations to carry out such amendments have been promulgated by such 
date.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that residential pediatric recovery 
centers (as defined in section 1902(nn) of the Social Security Act, as 
added by section 3(b)) should offer counseling and other services to 
mothers (and other appropriate 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 bonding.
            (3) Training on caring for such infants.
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