NEWBORN Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 79 To authorize funding for the creation and implementation of infant mortality pilot programs in standard metropolitan statistical areas with high rates of infant mortality, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. ROYBAL- ALLARD, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. DEAN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. RUSH, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To authorize funding for the creation and implementation of infant mortality pilot programs in standard metropoli- tan statistical areas with high rates of infant mortality, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nationally Enhancing 4 the Well-being of Babies through Outreach and Research 5 Now Act’’ or the ‘‘NEWBORN Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H79.IH H79 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 79 IH SEC. 2. INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS. 1 Section 330H of the Public Health Service Act (42 2 U.S.C. 254c–8) is amended— 3 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 4 section (f); 5 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(e) INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 9 through the Administrator, shall award grants to eli- 10 gible entities to create, implement, and oversee in- 11 fant mortality pilot programs. 12 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a 13 grant under this subsection shall be up to 5 years. 14 ‘‘(3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 15 this subsection, the Secretary shall give preference 16 to— 17 ‘‘(A) eligible entities proposing to serve 18 any of the 15 counties or groups of counties 19 with the highest rates of infant mortality in the 20 United States in the past 3 years; and 21 ‘‘(B) eligible entities whose proposed infant 22 mortality pilot program would address— 23 ‘‘(i) birth defects; 24 ‘‘(ii) preterm birth and low birth 25 weight; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H79.IH H79 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 79 IH ‘‘(iii) sudden infant death syndrome; 1 ‘‘(iv) maternal pregnancy complica- 2 tions; or 3 ‘‘(v) injuries to infants. 4 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—Any infant mortality 5 pilot program funded under this subsection may— 6 ‘‘(A) include the development of a plan 7 that identifies the individual needs of each com- 8 munity to be served and strategies to address 9 those needs; 10 ‘‘(B) provide outreach to at-risk mothers 11 through programs deemed appropriate by the 12 Administrator; 13 ‘‘(C) develop and implement standardized 14 systems for improved access, utilization, and 15 quality of social, educational, and clinical serv- 16 ices to promote healthy pregnancies, full-term 17 births, and healthy infancies delivered to women 18 and their infants, such as— 19 ‘‘(i) counseling on infant care, feed- 20 ing, and parenting; 21 ‘‘(ii) postpartum care; 22 ‘‘(iii) prevention of premature deliv- 23 ery; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H79.IH H79 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 79 IH ‘‘(iv) additional counseling for at-risk 1 mothers, including smoking cessation pro- 2 grams, drug treatment programs, alcohol 3 treatment programs, nutrition and physical 4 activity programs, postpartum depression 5 and domestic violence programs, social and 6 psychological services, dental care, and 7 parenting programs; 8 ‘‘(D) establish a rural outreach program to 9 provide care to at-risk mothers in rural areas; 10 ‘‘(E) establish a regional public education 11 campaign, including a campaign to— 12 ‘‘(i) prevent preterm births; and 13 ‘‘(ii) educate the public about infant 14 mortality; 15 ‘‘(F) provide for any other activities, pro- 16 grams, or strategies as identified by the com- 17 munity plan; and 18 ‘‘(G) coordinate efforts between— 19 ‘‘(i) the health department of each 20 county or other eligible entity to be served 21 through the infant mortality pilot program; 22 and 23 ‘‘(ii) existing entities that work to re- 24 duce the rate of infant mortality within the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H79.IH H79 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 79 IH area of any such county or other eligible 1 entity. 2 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—Of the funds received 3 through a grant under this subsection for a fiscal 4 year, an eligible entity shall not use more than 10 5 percent for program evaluation. 6 ‘‘(6) REPORTS ON PILOT PROGRAMS.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 8 after receiving a grant, and annually thereafter 9 for the duration of the grant period, each entity 10 that receives a grant under paragraph (1) shall 11 submit a report to the Secretary detailing its 12 infant mortality pilot program. 13 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The reports 14 required under subparagraph (A) shall include 15 information such as the methodology of, and 16 outcomes and statistics from, the grantee’s in- 17 fant mortality pilot program. 18 ‘‘(C) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 19 use the reports required under subparagraph 20 (A) to evaluate, and conduct statistical research 21 on, infant mortality pilot programs funded 22 through this subsection. 23 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 24 subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H79.IH H79 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 79 IH ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Admin- 1 istrator’ means the Administrator of the Health 2 Resources and Services Administration. 3 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi- 4 ble entity’ means a county, city, territorial, or 5 tribal health department that has submitted a 6 proposal to the Secretary that the Secretary 7 deems likely to reduce infant mortality rates 8 within the standard metropolitan statistical 9 area involved. 10 ‘‘(C) TRIBAL.—The term ‘tribal’ refers to 11 an Indian tribe, a Tribal organization, or an 12 Urban Indian organization, as such terms are 13 defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 14 Improvement Act.’’; and 15 (3) in subsection (f), as redesignated— 16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 17 (i) by amending the heading to read: 18 ‘‘HEALTHY START INITIATIVE’’; and 19 (ii) by inserting after ‘‘carrying out 20 this section’’ the following: ‘‘(other than 21 subsection (e))’’; 22 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 23 paragraph (3); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H79.IH H79 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 79 IH (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(2) INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS.— 3 There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 4 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025 to carry 5 out subsection (e). Amounts authorized by this para- 6 graph to be appropriated to carry out subsection (e) 7 are in addition to amounts authorized by paragraph 8 (1) to be appropriated to carry out the Healthy 9 Start Initiative under subsection (a).’’; and 10 (D) in paragraph (3)(A), as redesignated, 11 by striking ‘‘the program under this section’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘the program under subsection 13 (a)’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jan 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H79.IH H79 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS