[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5172 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5172
To amend titles XI, XIX, and XXI of the Social Security Act with
respect to screening for childhood-onset fluency disorders, and to
require coverage of certain speech therapy services under Medicaid and
CHIP.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2026
Mr. Banks (for himself, Mr. Kim, and Mr. Fetterman) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend titles XI, XIX, and XXI of the Social Security Act with
respect to screening for childhood-onset fluency disorders, and to
require coverage of certain speech therapy services under Medicaid and
CHIP.
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 ``Kidd's Stuttering Act''.
SEC. 2. EXPANDING SCREENING AND REQUIRING COVERAGE OF CERTAIN SPEECH
THERAPY SERVICES UNDER MEDICAID AND CHIP.
(a) Inclusion of Screening for Stuttering and Speech Fluency in
Core Set of Child Health Quality Measures.--Section 1139A(b)(5) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-9a(b)(5)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``Beginning no later than'' and inserting
the following:
``(A) In general.--Beginning no later than''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(B) Screening for stuttering and speech
fluency.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than January
1, 2028, the Secretary shall publish changes to
the core measures described in subsection (a)
to include measures of screening for childhood-
onset fluency disorders, including stuttering,
for children who have attained the age of 2
(and have not attained the age of 6).
``(ii) Publication.--The Secretary shall
publish the changes required by clause (i) at
the same time and in the same manner as the
relevant annual recommended changes required
under subparagraph (A).''.
(b) Required Screening for Stuttering and Speech Fluency in
Medicaid Well-Child Visits.--Section 1905(r)(1)(B) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(r)(1)(B)) is amended--
(1) in clause (iv), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in clause (v), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``, and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
``(vi) beginning January 1, 2029, for
children who have attained the age of 2 (and
have not attained the age of 6), screening for
childhood-onset fluency disorders, including
stuttering.''.
(c) Required Coverage of Certain Speech Therapy Services.--
(1) Medicaid.--Title XIX of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) is amended--
(A) in section 1902(a)--
(i) in paragraph (10)(A), by striking ``and
(30)'' and inserting ``(30), and (32)'';
(ii) in paragraph (89), by striking ``and''
at the end;
(iii) in paragraph (90)(C), by striking the
period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(iv) by inserting after paragraph (90) the
following new paragraph:
``(91) provide that the treatment limitations applicable to
specified speech therapy services (as defined in section
1905(ll)) are no more restrictive than the treatment
limitations applicable to any speech therapy services for the
treatment of expressive language disorder, receptive language
disorder, mixed expressive and receptive language disorder, or
articulation, for which medical assistance is provided under
the State plan (or waiver of such plan).'';
(B) in section 1905--
(i) in subsection (a)--
(I) in paragraph (31), by striking
``and'' at the end;
(II) by redesignating paragraph
(32) as paragraph (33); and
(III) by inserting after paragraph
(31) the following new paragraph:
``(32) beginning on January 1, 2029, specified speech
therapy services (as defined in subsection (ll)); and''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(ll) Specified Speech Therapy Services.--For purposes of
subsection (a)(32), the term `specified speech therapy services'--
``(1) means speech therapy services for the treatment of
childhood-onset fluency disorders, including stuttering,
provided to--
``(A) individuals who have not attained 21 years of
age; and
``(B) individuals described in section
1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(IX); and
``(2) includes such services delivered through real-time,
audio and video telecommunications technology.'';
(C) in section 1932(b), by adding at the end the
following new paragraph:
``(9) Parity in coverage of speech therapy services.--A
medicaid managed care organization, prepaid inpatient health
plan (as defined by the Secretary), prepaid ambulatory health
plan (as defined by the Secretary), and, when appropriate,
primary care case management entity (as defined by the
Secretary) with a contract with a State that provides for
coverage of specified speech therapy services (as such term is
defined in section 1905(ll)) shall establish procedures to
ensure compliance with the requirements of section
1902(a)(91).''; and
(D) in section 1937(b)--
(i) in paragraph (1), in the matter
preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``paragraphs (5) and (6)'' and inserting ``the
succeeding provisions of this subsection''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(9) Coverage of specified speech therapy services.--
Notwithstanding the previous provisions of this section, a
State may not provide for medical assistance through enrollment
of an individual with benchmark coverage or benchmark-
equivalent coverage under this section unless the individual
has access, through such coverage or otherwise, to specified
speech therapy services (as defined in section 1905(ll)) that
are provided in accordance with the requirements of section
1902(a)(91).''.
(2) CHIP.--
(A) In general.--Section 2103(c) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397cc(c)) is amended by adding
at the end the following new paragraph:
``(13) Required coverage of certain speech therapy
services.--Beginning January 1, 2029, the child health
assistance provided to a targeted low-income child and, in the
case of a State that elects to provide pregnancy-related
assistance pursuant to section 2112, the pregnancy-related
assistance provided for a targeted low-income pregnant woman
(as such terms are defined for purposes of such section) shall
include coverage of specified speech therapy services (as such
term is defined in section 1905(ll)).''.
(B) Treatment parity.--Section 2107(e)(1) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397gg(e)(1)) is
amended--
(i) by redesignating subparagraphs (I)
through (W) as subparagraphs (J) through (X),
respectively; and
(ii) by inserting after subparagraph (H)
the following new subparagraph:
``(I) Section 1902(a)(91) (relating to parity in
coverage of speech therapy services).''.
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