[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3842 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3842

To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Healthy Start 
                          for Infants Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2017

 Mr. Ryan of Ohio (for himself, Mr. Jenkins of West Virginia, and Mr. 
   Yarmuth) 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 the Healthy Start 
                          for Infants 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 Start Reauthorization Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Department of Health and Human Services puts the 
        national infant mortality rate at 5.96 deaths per 1,000 live 
        births.
            (2) Despite national reductions in infant mortality, a 
        racial disparity in infant mortality rates exists in every 
        State and territory, with non-Hispanic Black infants more than 
        twice as likely to die before their first birthday than non-
        Hispanic White infants.
            (3) Infants born to low-income women are more likely to die 
        before their first birthday than infants born in higher-income 
        households.
            (4) The three leading clinical causes of infant death are 
        prematurity due to preterm birth and low birthweight, birth 
        defects, and sleep-related deaths.
            (5) The most recent data from the Centers for Disease 
        Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the rate of preterm 
        live births is twice the national rate for African-American 
        women, 1.5 times the national rate for American Indians and 
        Alaskan Natives, and 1.4 times the national rate for Latinos.
            (6) The long-term medical and social services associated 
        with low birthweight infants and children born premature cost 
        American taxpayers $26.2 billion per year, with first-year 
        expenses for the smallest surviving babies averaging $273,900.
            (7) Employers pay 12 times more in health care costs for 
        babies born with complications, and prenatal interventions that 
        result in full-term birth save employers $49,760.
            (8) Women can reduce the risk of mortality to their infants 
        if they have access to culturally appropriate, accurate 
        information from trusted providers about how to improve their 
        health practices and behaviors during preconception, pregnancy, 
        and postpartum.
            (9) For 25 years, the Healthy Start for Infants Program has 
        identified and addressed the aforementioned knowledge gaps, 
        clinical contributors, and upstream social and generational 
        factors leading to infant death, targeting communities with 
        infant mortality rates at least 1.5 times the national rate 
        with the effect of reducing the prevalence of infant mortality 
        in Healthy Start communities to below the national rate.
            (10) In collaboration with its partners, including the 
        National Healthy Start Association, March of Dimes, and the 
        Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program, the Healthy Start 
        for Infants Program has recognized that a relationship-
        centered, community-based approach to the early delivery of 
        coordinated services to women and families as well as an 
        ongoing, comprehensive approach to women's health care improve 
        perinatal outcomes.

SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF HEALTHY START FOR INFANTS PROGRAM.

    Subsection (e)(1) of section 330H of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 254c-8) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``2008'' and inserting 
        ``2018''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``2009 through 2013'' 
        and inserting ``2010 through 2023''.
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