,,ii #aaeth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #feb ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,march #ae1 #bjag,mr4 ,portman 7for himself and ,mr4 ,kaine7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,public ,health ,service ,act to reauthorize a program for early detection1 diagnosis1 and treatment regarding deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns1 infants1 and young children4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,early ,hearing ,detection and ,intervention ,act of #bjag4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds as follows3 7#a7 ,deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns1 infants1 and young children require access to specialized early intervention providers and programs in order to help them meet their linguistic and cognitive potential4 7#b7 ,families of deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns1 infants1 and young children benefit from comprehensive early intervention programs that assist them in supporting their child's development in all domains4 7#c7 ,best practices principles for early intervention for deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns1 infants1 and young children have been identified in a range of areas including listening and spoken language and visual and signed language acquisition1 family-to-family support1 support from individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing1 progress monitoring1 and others4 7#d7 ,effective hearing screening and early intervention programs must be in place to identify hearing levels in deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns1 infants1 and young children so that they may access appropriate early intervention programs in a timely manner4 #c4 ,reauthorization of program for early detection1 diagnosis1 and treatment regarding deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns1 infants1 and young children ,section #cii,m of the ,public ,health ,service ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #bhj;g-#a7 is amended to read as follows3 #cii,m4 ,early ,detection1 ,diagnosis1 and ,treatment ,regarding ,deaf and ,hard-of-,hearing ,newborns1 ,infants1 and ,young ,children 7a7 ,health ,resources and ,services ,administration ,the ,secretary1 acting through the ,administrator of the ,health ,resources and ,services ,administration1 shall make awards of grants or cooperative agreements to develop statewide newborn1 infant1 and young childhood hearing screening1 diagnosis1 evaluation1 and intervention programs and systems1 and to assist in the recruitment1 retention1 education1 and training of qualified personnel and health care providers 7including education and training of family members7 for the following purposes3 7#a7 ,to develop and monitor the efficacy of statewide programs and systems for hearing screening of newborns1 infants1 and young children1 prompt evaluation and diagnosis of newborns1 infants1 and young children referred from screening programs1 and appropriate educational1 audiological1 medical1 and communications 7or language acquisition7 interventions 7including family support7 for newborns1 infants1 and young children identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing1 consistent with the following3 7,a7 ,early intervention includes referral to1 and delivery of1 information and services by organizations such as schools and agencies 7including community1 consumer1 and family-based agencies71 medical homes for children1 and other programs under part ,c of the ,individuals with ,disabilities ,education ,act1 which offer programs specifically designed to meet the unique language and communication needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns1 infants1 and young children4 7,b7 ,information provided to parents shall be accurate1 comprehensive1 and1 where appropriate1 evidence-based1 allowing families to make important decisions for their children in a timely way1 including decisions relating to all possible assistive hearing technologies 7such as hearing aids1 cochlear implants1 and osseointegrated devices7 and communication modalities 7such as oral and visual communications and language acquisition services and programs74 7,c7 ,programs and systems under this paragraph shall offer mechanisms that foster family-to-family and deaf and hard-of-hearing consumer-to-family supports4 7#b7 ,to continue to provide technical support to ,states1 through one or more technical resource centers1 to assist in further developing and enhancing ,state early hearing detection and intervention programs4 7#c7 ,to identify or develop efficient models 7educational and medical7 to ensure that newborns1 infants1 and young children who are identified through screening as deaf or hard of hearing receive1 as appropriate1 follow-up by qualified early intervention providers1 qualified health care providers1 or medical homes for children and referrals to early intervention services under part ,c of the ,individuals with ,disabilities ,education ,act4 ,state agencies shall be encouraged to effectively increase the rate of such follow-up and referral4 7b7 ,technical assistance1 data management1 and applied research 7#a7 ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention 7,a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary1 acting through the ,director of the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention1 shall make awards of grants or cooperative agreements to provide technical assistance to ,state agencies or designated entities of ,states-- 7i7 for the development1 maintenance1 and improvement of data tracking and surveillance systems on newborn1 infant1 and young childhood hearing screening1 audiologic evaluations1 medical evaluations1 language-acquisition evaluations1 and intervention services2 7ii7 to conduct applied research related to services and outcomes2 7iii7 to provide technical assistance related to newborn1 infant1 and young childhood hearing screening1 evaluation1 and intervention programs1 and information systems2 7iv7 to ensure high-quality monitoring of hearing screening1 evaluation1 and intervention programs and systems for newborns1 infants1 and young children2 and 7v7 to coordinate developing standardized procedures for data management and assessing program and cost effectiveness4 7,b7 ,use of awards ,the awards under subparagraph 7,a7 may be used-- 7i7 to provide technical assistance on data collection and management2 7ii7 to study and report on the costs and effectiveness of newborn1 infant1 and young childhood hearing screening1 evaluation1 diagnosis1 intervention programs1 and systems in order to address issues of importance to ,state and national policy makers2 7iii7 to collect data and report on newborn1 infant1 and young childhood hearing screening1 evaluation1 diagnosis1 and intervention programs and systems that can be used for applied research1 program evaluation1 and policy development2 7iv7 to identify the causes and risk factors for congenital hearing loss2 7v7 to study the effectiveness of newborn1 infant1 and young childhood hearing screening1 audiologic evaluations1 medical evaluations1 and intervention programs and systems by assessing the health1 intellectual and social developmental1 cognitive1 and hearing status of children at school age2 and 7vi7 to promote the integration1 linkage1 and interoperability of data regarding early hearing loss and multiple sources to increase information exchanges between clinical care and public health1 including the ability of ,states and territories to exchange and share data4 7#b7 ,national ,institutes of ,health ,the ,director of the ,national ,institutes of ,health1 acting through the ,director of the ,national ,institute on ,deafness and ,other ,communication ,disorders1 shall1 for purposes of this section1 continue a program of research and development on the efficacy of new screening techniques and technology1 including clinical studies of screening methods1 studies on efficacy of intervention1 and related research4 7c7 ,coordination and collaboration 7#a7 ,in general ,in carrying out programs under this section1 the ,administrator of the ,health ,resources and ,services ,administration1 the ,director of the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention1 and the ,director of the ,national ,institutes of ,health shall collaborate and consult with-- 7,a7 other ,federal agencies2 7,b7 ,state and local agencies1 including agencies responsible for early intervention services pursuant to title ,,xix of the ,social ,security ,act 7,medicaid ,early and ,periodic ,screening1 ,diagnosis and ,treatment ,program71 title ,,xxi of the ,social ,security ,act 7,state ,children's ,health ,insurance ,program71 title ,v of the ,social ,security ,act 7,maternal and ,child ,health ,block ,grant ,program71 and part ,c of the ,individuals with ,disabilities ,education ,act2 7,c7 consumer groups of1 and that serve1 individuals who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and their families2 7,d7 appropriate national medical and other health and education specialty organizations2 7,e7 individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and their families2 7,f7 other qualified professional personnel who are proficient in deaf or hard-of-hearing children's language and who possess the specialized knowledge1 skills1 and attributes needed to serve deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns1 infants1 young children1 and their families2 7,g7 third-party payers and managed-care organizations2 and 7,h7 related commercial industries4 7#b7 ,policy development ,the ,administrator of the ,health ,resources and ,services ,administration1 the ,director of the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention1 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 sector1 including consumer1 medical1 and other health and education professional-based organizations1 with respect to newborn and infant hearing screening1 evaluation1 diagnosis1 and intervention programs and systems4 7#c7 ,state early detection1 diagnosis1 and intervention programs and systems2 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-- 7,a7 to establish newborn1 infant1 and young childhood hearing screening1 evaluation1 diagnosis1 and intervention programs and systems under subsection 7a72 and 7,b7 to develop a data collection system under subsection 7b74 7d7 ,rule of construction2 religious accommodation ,nothing in this section shall be construed to preempt or prohibit any ,state law1 including ,state laws that do not require the screening for hearing loss of newborns1 infants1 or young children of any parent that objects to the screening on the grounds that such screening conflicts with the parent's religious beliefs4 7e7 ,definitions ,for purposes of this section3 7#a7 ,the term audiologic1 when used in connection with evaluation1 means procedures-- 7,a7 to assess the status of the auditory system2 7,b7 to establish the site of the auditory disorder1 the type and degree of hearing loss1 and the potential effects of hearing loss on communication2 and 7,c7 to identify appropriate treatment and referral options1 including-- 7i7 linkage to ,state agencies coordinating the programs under part ,c of the ,individuals with ,disabilities ,education ,act or other appropriate agencies2 7ii7 medical evaluation2 7iii7 hearing aid or sensory aid assessment2 7iv7 audiologic rehabilitation treatment2 and 7v7 referral to national and local consumer1 self-help1 family1 and education organizations1 and other family-centered services4 7#b7 ,the term early intervention means-- 7,a7 providing appropriate services for the child who is deaf or hard of hearing1 including nonmedical services2 and 7,b7 ensuring the family of the child is-- 7i7 provided comprehensive1 consumer-oriented information about the full range of family support1 training1 information services1 and language acquisition in oral and visual modalities2 and 7ii7 given the opportunity to consider and obtain the full range of such appropriate services1 educational and program placements1 and other options for the child from highly qualified providers4 7#c7 ,the term medical evaluation means key components performed by a physician1 including history1 examination1 and medical decisionmaking focused on symptomatic and related body systems for the purpose of diagnosing the etiology of hearing loss and related physical conditions1 and for identifying appropriate treatment and referral options4 7#d7 ,the term medical intervention means the process by which a physician provides medical diagnosis and direction for medical or surgical treatment options for hearing loss or other medical disorders associated with hearing loss4 7#e7 ,the term newborn1 infant1 and young childhood hearing screening means objective physiologic procedures to detect possible hearing loss and to identify newborns1 infants1 and young children up to #c years of age who require further audiologic evaluations and medical evaluations4 7f7 ,authorization of appropriations 7#a7 ,statewide newborn1 infant1 and young childhood hearing screening1 evaluation and intervention programs and systems ,for the purpose of carrying out subsection 7a71 there are authorized to be appropriated to the ,health ,resources and ,services ,administration #ag1hah1jjj for fiscal year #bjah1 #ah1agc1hjj for fiscal year #bjai1 #ah1fbh1ade for fiscal year #bjbj1 #ai1jef1eib for fiscal year #bjba1 and #ai1ebb1geh for fiscal year #bjbb4 7#b7 ,technical assistance1 data management1 and applied research2 centers for disease control and prevention ,for the purpose of carrying out subsection 7b77#a71 there are authorized to be appropriated to the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention #aj1hjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjah1 #aa1jbf1hjj for fiscal year #bjai1 #aa1cjb1dgj for fiscal year #bjbj1 #aa1efb1dbg for fiscal year #bjba1 and #aa1hea1dhh for fiscal year #bjbb4 7#c7 ,technical ,assistance1 ,data ,management1 and ,applied ,research2 ,national ,institute on ,deafness and ,other ,communication ,disorders ,for the purpose of carrying out subsection 7b77#b71 there are authorized to be appropriated to the ,national ,institute on ,deafness and ,other ,communication ,disorders1 #bb1djj1jjj for fiscal year #bjah1 #bb1hgj1djj for fiscal year #bjai1 #bc1ddb1afj for fiscal year #bjbj1 #bc1iha1cbi for fiscal year #bjba1 and #bd1ehj1hfb for fiscal year #bjbb4 4