[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1052 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1052

   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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 29, 2007

  Mr. Salazar (for himself and Mr. Specter) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Children's Health Insurance Program.

    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 ``Healthy Children and Families Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (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 programs 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 pregnancies, 
        increasing time intervals between first and subsequent births, 
        and improving child cognitive, social 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 economic 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 programs 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.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to encourage 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 neglect;
            (7) reduce maternal and child involvement in the criminal 
        justice system; and
            (8) increase birth intervals between pregnancies.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL OPTIONS FOR STATES TO PROVIDE NURSE HOME VISITATION 
              SERVICES.

    (a) SCHIP.--Section 2110(a)(15) of the Social Security 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 prenatal health, 
        pregnancy outcomes, child health and development, school 
        readiness, family stability and economic self-sufficiency, 
        reducing child abuse, neglect, and injury, reducing maternal 
        and child involvement in the criminal justice system, and 
        increasing birth intervals between pregnancies) on behalf of a 
        targeted low-income 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, randomized 
        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 involvement in the criminal justice system, increase 
        birth intervals between pregnancies, and improve maternal 
        employment.''.
    (b) Medicaid.--Section 1905(a) of the Social Security 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 paragraph (29); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (27) the following:
            ``(28) evidence-based nurse home visitation services (such 
        as services related to improving prenatal health, pregnancy 
        outcomes, child health and development, school readiness, 
        family stability and economic self-sufficiency, reducing child 
        abuse, neglect, and injury, reducing maternal and child 
        involvement in the criminal justice system, and increasing 
        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, randomized 
        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 involvement 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 affecting the ability of a State under the 
Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act or the 
State Children's Health Insurance Program under title XXI of such Act 
to provide nurse home visitation services as part of another class of 
items and services falling within the definition of medical assistance 
or child health assistance under such titles, or as an administrative 
expenditure for which payment is made under section 1903(a) or 2105(a) 
of such Act, on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (d) Timely Approval of Amendments or Proposals.--The Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall, in a timely manner, review and notify 
a State of the Secretary's approval or disapproval of--
            (1) any proposed amendment to a State Medicaid plan under 
        title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide nurse home 
        visitation services as medical assistance described in section 
        1905(a)(28) of such Act;
            (2) any proposed amendment to a State child health plan 
        under title XXI of such Act to provide such services as child 
        health assistance described in section 2110(a)(15)(B) of such 
        Act; or
            (3) any proposal submitted under section 1115 of such Act 
        to provide nurse home visitation services described in sections 
        1905(a)(28) and 2110(a)(15)(B) of such Act under a waiver 
        approved under such section 1115.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section take 
effect on October 1, 2007, and apply to child health assistance 
provided under title XXI of the Social Security Act and medical 
assistance provided under title XIX of such Act on or after that date.
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