Title: Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2017
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2017
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to revise programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns and infants, including to expand the programs to include young children. The programs are reauthorized through FY2022. Health Resources and Services Administration support for the education and training of personnel and health care providers for such programs is expanded to include education and training of family members.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1539 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives 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 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (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 potential.
            (2) Families of deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, 
        and young children benefit from comprehensive early 
        intervention programs that assist them in supporting their 
        child's development in all domains.
            (3) Best practices principles for early intervention 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 intervention 
        programs must be in place to identify hearing levels in deaf 
        and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, and young children so 
        that they may access appropriate early intervention programs in 
        a timely manner.

SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM FOR EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND 
              TREATMENT REGARDING DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING NEWBORNS, 
              INFANTS, AND YOUNG CHILDREN.

    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 TREATMENT REGARDING DEAF 
              AND HARD-OF-HEARING NEWBORNS, INFANTS, AND YOUNG 
              CHILDREN.

    ``(a) Health Resources and Services Administration.--The Secretary, 
acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 
Administration, shall make awards of grants or cooperative agreements 
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 purposes:
            ``(1) To develop and monitor the efficacy of statewide 
        programs and systems for hearing screening of newborns, 
        infants, and young children, prompt evaluation and diagnosis of 
        newborns, infants, and young children referred from screening 
        programs, and appropriate educational, audiological, medical, 
        and communications (or language acquisition) interventions 
        (including family support) for newborns, infants, and young 
        children identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing, consistent with 
        the following:
                    ``(A) Early intervention includes referral to, and 
                delivery of, information and services by organizations 
                such as schools and agencies (including 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 communication 
                needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, 
                and young children.
                    ``(B) Information provided to parents shall be 
                accurate, comprehensive, and, where appropriate, 
                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 osseointegrated devices) and communication 
                modalities (such as oral and visual communications and 
                language acquisition services and programs).
                    ``(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 centers, to assist in 
        further developing and enhancing State early hearing detection 
        and intervention programs.
            ``(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 intervention 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 encouraged 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 designated entities of States--
                            ``(i) for the development, maintenance, and 
                        improvement of data tracking and surveillance 
                        systems on newborn, infant, and young childhood 
                        hearing screening, audiologic evaluations, 
                        medical evaluations, language-acquisition 
                        evaluations, and intervention services;
                            ``(ii) to conduct applied research related 
                        to services and outcomes;
                            ``(iii) to provide technical assistance 
                        related to newborn, infant, and young childhood 
                        hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention 
                        programs, and information systems;
                            ``(iv) to ensure high-quality monitoring of 
                        hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention 
                        programs and systems for newborns, infants, and 
                        young children; and
                            ``(v) to coordinate developing standardized 
                        procedures for data management and assessing 
                        program and cost effectiveness.
                    ``(B) Use of awards.--The awards under subparagraph 
                (A) may be used--
                            ``(i) to provide technical assistance on 
                        data collection and management;
                            ``(ii) to study and report on the costs and 
                        effectiveness of newborn, infant, and young 
                        childhood hearing screening, evaluation, 
                        diagnosis, intervention programs, and systems 
                        in order to address issues of importance to 
                        State and national policy makers;
                            ``(iii) to collect data and report on 
                        newborn, infant, and young childhood hearing 
                        screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and 
                        intervention programs and systems that can be 
                        used for applied research, program evaluation, 
                        and policy development;
                            ``(iv) to identify the causes and risk 
                        factors for congenital hearing loss;
                            ``(v) to study the effectiveness of 
                        newborn, infant, and young childhood hearing 
                        screening, audiologic evaluations, medical 
                        evaluations, and intervention programs and 
                        systems by assessing the health, intellectual 
                        and social developmental, cognitive, and 
                        hearing status of children at school age; and
                            ``(vi) to promote the integration, linkage, 
                        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 exchange 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 
        program of research and development on the efficacy of 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 services (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 Periodic 
                Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Program), 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 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 
                U.S.C. 1431 et seq.);
                    ``(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 organizations;
                    ``(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 specialized knowledge, 
                skills, and attributes needed to serve deaf and hard-
                of-hearing newborns, infants, young children, and their 
                families;
                    ``(G) third-party payers and managed-care 
                organizations; and
                    ``(H) related commercial industries.
            ``(2) Policy development.--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 coordinate and 
        collaborate on recommendations for policy development at the 
        Federal and State levels and with the private sector, including 
        consumer, medical, and other health and education professional-
        based organizations, 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 Resources and Services Administration and the 
        Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
        shall coordinate and collaborate in assisting States--
                    ``(A) to establish newborn, infant, and young 
                childhood hearing screening, evaluation, diagnosis, and 
                intervention programs and systems under subsection (a); 
                and
                    ``(B) to develop a data collection system under 
                subsection (b)(1).
    ``(d) Rule of Construction; Religious Accommodation.--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 screening conflicts with the 
parent's religious beliefs.
    ``(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) The term `audiologic', when used in connection 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 communication; and
                    ``(C) to identify appropriate treatment and 
                referral options, including--
                            ``(i) linkage to State agencies 
                        coordinating the programs under part C of the 
                        Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 
                        U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) or other appropriate 
                        agencies;
                            ``(ii) medical evaluation;
                            ``(iii) hearing aid or sensory aid 
                        assessment;
                            ``(iv) audiologic rehabilitation treatment; 
                        and
                            ``(v) referral to national and local 
                        consumer, self-help, family, and education 
                        organizations, and other family-centered 
                        services.
            ``(2) The term `early intervention' means--
                    ``(A) providing appropriate services for a child 
                who is deaf or hard-of-hearing, including nonmedical 
                services; and
                    ``(B) ensuring the family of such child is--
                            ``(i) provided comprehensive, consumer-
                        oriented information about the full range of 
                        family support, training, information services, 
                        and language acquisition in oral and visual 
                        modalities; and
                            ``(ii) given the opportunity to consider 
                        and obtain the full range of such appropriate 
                        services, educational and program placements, 
                        and other options for the child from highly 
                        qualified providers.
            ``(3) The term `medical evaluation' means key components 
        performed by a physician, including history, examination, and 
        medical decisionmaking focused on symptomatic and related body 
        systems for the purpose of diagnosing the etiology of hearing 
        loss and related physical conditions, and for identifying 
        appropriate treatment and referral options.
            ``(4) The term `medical intervention' means the process by 
        which a physician provides medical diagnosis and direction for 
        medical or surgical treatment options for hearing loss or other 
        medical disorders associated with hearing loss.
            ``(5) The term `newborn, infant, and young childhood 
        hearing screening' means objective physiologic procedures to 
        detect possible hearing loss and to identify newborns, infants, 
        and young children up to the age of three who require further 
        audiologic evaluations and medical evaluations.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) Statewide newborn, infant, and young childhood 
        hearing screening, evaluation and intervention programs and 
        systems.--For the purpose of carrying out subsection (a), there 
        are authorized to be appropriated to the Health Resources and 
        Services Administration $17,800,000 for each of fiscal years 
        2018 through 2022.
            ``(2) Technical assistance, data management, and applied 
        research; centers for disease control and prevention.--For the 
        purpose of carrying out subsection (b)(1), there are authorized 
        to be appropriated to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention $10,800,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 
        2022.
            ``(3) Technical assistance, data management, and applied 
        research; national institute on deafness and other 
        communication disorders.--No additional funds are authorized to 
        be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out subsection 
        (b)(2). Such subsection shall be carried out using funds which 
        are otherwise authorized (under section 402A or other 
        provisions of law) to be appropriated for such purpose.''.
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