[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing 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.