[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2424 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2424

  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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 18, 2015

Mr. Portman (for himself and Mrs. Gillibrand) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 cited as the ``Early Hearing Detection and 
Intervention Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, toddlers, 
        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, 
        toddlers, 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, toddlers, 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, toddlers, 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 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 
        children referred from screening programs, and appropriate 
        educational, audiological, and medical interventions for 
        children confirmed to be 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 parent-based agencies), pediatric medical 
                homes, 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, and young children.
                    ``(B) Information provided to parents must be 
                accurate, comprehensive, and, where appropriate, 
                evidence-based, allowing families to make important 
                decisions for their child in a timely way, including 
                decisions relating to all possible assistive hearing 
                technologies (such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, 
                and osseointegrated devices) and communication options 
                (such as visual and sign language, listening and spoken 
                language, or both).
                    ``(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 develop efficient models (both educational and 
        medical) to ensure that newborns, infants, and young children 
        who are identified through hearing screening receive followup 
        by qualified early intervention providers, qualified health 
        care providers, or pediatric medical homes (including by 
        encouraging State agencies to adopt such models).
            ``(3) To provide for a technical resource center in 
        conjunction with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the 
        Health Resources and Services Administration--
                    ``(A) to provide technical support and education 
                for States; and
                    ``(B) to continue development and enhancement of 
                State early hearing detection and intervention 
                programs.
    ``(b) Technical Assistance, Data Management, and Applied 
Research.--
            ``(1) Centers for disease control and prevention.--The 
        Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention, shall make awards of grants or 
        cooperative agreements to State agencies or their designated 
        entities for development, maintenance, and improvement of data 
        tracking and surveillance systems on newborn, infant, and young 
        childhood hearing screenings, audiologic evaluations, medical 
        evaluations, and intervention services; to conduct applied 
        research related to services and outcomes, and provide 
        technical assistance related to newborn, infant, and young 
        childhood hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention 
        programs, and information systems; to ensure high-quality 
        monitoring of hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention 
        programs and systems for newborns, infants, and young children; 
        and to coordinate developing standardized procedures for data 
        management and assessing program and cost effectiveness. The 
        awards under the preceding sentence may be used--
                    ``(A) to provide technical assistance on data 
                collection and management;
                    ``(B) to study and report on the costs and 
                effectiveness of newborn, infant, and young childhood 
                hearing screening, evaluation, diagnosis, intervention 
                programs, and systems;
                    ``(C) to collect data and report on newborn, 
                infant, and young childhood hearing screening, 
                evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention programs and 
                systems that can be used--
                            ``(i) for applied research, program 
                        evaluation, and policy development; and
                            ``(ii) to answer issues of importance to 
                        State and national policymakers;
                    ``(D) to identify the causes and risk factors for 
                congenital hearing loss;
                    ``(E) 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 these children at 
                school age; and
                    ``(F) 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 related to early hearing 
        detection and intervention, including development of 
        technologies and clinical studies of screening methods, 
        efficacy of interventions, 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 those 
                responsible for early intervention services pursuant to 
                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); title V of the 
                Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) (Maternal 
                and Child Health Block Grant 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) persons who are deaf and 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, toddlers, 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, infant, and young 
        childhood 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).
    ``(d) Rule of Construction; Religious Accommodation.--Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to preempt or prohibit any State law, 
including State laws which do not require the screening for hearing 
loss of newborns, infants, or young children of parents who object to 
the screening on the grounds that such screening conflicts with the 
parents' religious beliefs.
    ``(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) The term `audiologic', when used in connection with 
        evaluation, refers to 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 coordinating 
                        agencies 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/sensory aid assessment;
                            ``(iv) audiologic rehabilitation treatment; 
                        and
                            ``(v) referral to national and local 
                        consumer, self-help, parent, and education 
                        organizations, and other family-centered 
                        services.
            ``(2) The term `early intervention' refers to--
                    ``(A) providing appropriate services for the child 
                who is deaf or hard of hearing, including nonmedical 
                services; and
                    ``(B) ensuring the family of the child is--
                            ``(i) provided comprehensive, consumer-
                        oriented information about the full range of 
                        family support, training, information services, 
                        and language and communication options; and
                            ``(ii) 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.
            ``(3) The term `medical evaluation' refers to 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' refers to the process 
        by which a physician provides medical diagnosis and direction 
        for medical or surgical treatment options for hearing loss or 
        related medical disorders.
            ``(5) The term `newborn, infant, and young childhood 
        hearing screening' refers to objective physiologic procedures 
        to detect possible hearing loss and to identify newborns, 
        infants, and young children 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 
        is authorized to be appropriated to the Health Resources and 
        Services Administration $17,800,000 for each of fiscal years 
        2016 through 2020.
            ``(2) Technical assistance, data management, and applied 
        research; centers for disease control and prevention.--For the 
        purpose of carrying out subsection (b)(1), there is authorized 
        to be appropriated to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention $10,800,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 
        2020.
            ``(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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