[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1198 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 1198


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 9, 2008

     Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
   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 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 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 ``infants'' and 
        inserting ``newborns and infants'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                striking ``screening, evaluation and intervention 
                programs and systems'' and inserting ``screening, 
                evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs and 
                systems, and to assist in the recruitment, retention, 
                education, and training of qualified personnel and 
                health care providers,'';
                    (B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
            ``(1) To develop and monitor the efficacy of statewide 
        programs and systems for hearing screening of newborns and 
        infants; prompt evaluation and diagnosis of children referred 
        from screening programs; and appropriate educational, 
        audiological, and medical interventions for children identified 
        with hearing loss. Early intervention includes referral to and 
        delivery of information and services by schools and agencies, 
        including community, consumer, and parent-based agencies and 
        organizations and other programs mandated by part C of the 
        Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which offer 
        programs specifically designed to meet the unique language and 
        communication needs of deaf and hard of hearing newborns, 
        infants, toddlers, and children. Programs and systems under 
        this paragraph shall establish and foster family-to-family 
        support mechanisms that are critical in the first months after 
        a child is identified with hearing loss.''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) To develop efficient models to ensure that newborns 
        and infants who are identified with a hearing 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 ``hearing loss 
                screening, evaluation, and intervention programs'' and 
                inserting ``hearing loss screening, evaluation, 
                diagnosis, and intervention programs''; 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 following:
                    ``(B) establish a postdoctoral fellowship program 
                to foster research and development in the area of early 
                hearing detection and intervention.'';
            (4) in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c), by 
        striking the term ``hearing screening, evaluation and 
        intervention programs'' each place such term appears 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 support, training, 
                information services, and language 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)--
                    (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''.

            Passed the House of Representatives April 8, 2008.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.