NEWBORN Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 117 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 3, 2019 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KILMER, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H117.IH H117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 117 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nationally Enhancing 2 the Wellbeing of Babies through Outreach and Research 3 Now Act’’ or the ‘‘NEWBORN Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS. 5 Section 330H of the Public Health Service Act (42 6 U.S.C. 254c–8) is amended— 7 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 8 section (f); 9 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(e) INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 13 through the Administrator, shall award grants to eli- 14 gible entities to create, implement, and oversee in- 15 fant mortality pilot programs. 16 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a 17 grant under this subsection shall be up to 5 years. 18 ‘‘(3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 19 this subsection, the Secretary shall give preference 20 to— 21 ‘‘(A) eligible entities proposing to serve 22 any of the 15 counties or groups of counties 23 with the highest rates of infant mortality in the 24 United States in the past 3 years; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H117.IH H117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 117 IH ‘‘(B) eligible entities whose proposed infant 1 mortality pilot program would address— 2 ‘‘(i) birth defects; 3 ‘‘(ii) preterm birth and low birth 4 weight; 5 ‘‘(iii) sudden infant death syndrome; 6 ‘‘(iv) maternal pregnancy complica- 7 tions; or 8 ‘‘(v) injuries to infants. 9 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—Any infant mortality 10 pilot program funded under this subsection may— 11 ‘‘(A) include the development of a plan 12 that identifies the individual needs of each com- 13 munity to be served and strategies to address 14 those needs; 15 ‘‘(B) provide outreach to at-risk mothers 16 through programs deemed appropriate by the 17 Administrator; 18 ‘‘(C) develop and implement standardized 19 systems for improved access, utilization, and 20 quality of social, educational, and clinical serv- 21 ices to promote healthy pregnancies, full-term 22 births, and healthy infancies delivered to women 23 and their infants, such as— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H117.IH H117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 117 IH ‘‘(i) counseling on infant care, feed- 1 ing, and parenting; 2 ‘‘(ii) postpartum care; 3 ‘‘(iii) prevention of premature deliv- 4 ery; and 5 ‘‘(iv) additional counseling for at-risk 6 mothers, including smoking cessation pro- 7 grams, drug treatment programs, alcohol 8 treatment programs, nutrition and physical 9 activity programs, postpartum depression 10 and domestic violence programs, social and 11 psychological services, dental care, and 12 parenting programs; 13 ‘‘(D) establish a rural outreach program to 14 provide care to at-risk mothers in rural areas; 15 ‘‘(E) establish a regional public education 16 campaign, including a campaign to— 17 ‘‘(i) prevent preterm births; and 18 ‘‘(ii) educate the public about infant 19 mortality; 20 ‘‘(F) provide for any other activities, pro- 21 grams, or strategies as identified by the com- 22 munity plan; and 23 ‘‘(G) coordinate efforts between— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H117.IH H117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 117 IH ‘‘(i) the health department of each 1 county or other eligible entity to be served 2 through the infant mortality pilot program; 3 and 4 ‘‘(ii) existing entities that work to re- 5 duce the rate of infant mortality within the 6 area of any such county or other eligible 7 entity. 8 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—Of the funds received 9 through a grant under this subsection for a fiscal 10 year, an eligible entity shall not use more than 10 11 percent for program evaluation. 12 ‘‘(6) REPORTS ON PILOT PROGRAMS.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 14 after receiving a grant, and annually thereafter 15 for the duration of the grant period, each entity 16 that receives a grant under paragraph (1) shall 17 submit a report to the Secretary detailing its 18 infant mortality pilot program. 19 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The reports 20 required under subparagraph (A) shall include 21 information such as the methodology of, and 22 outcomes and statistics from, the grantee’s in- 23 fant mortality pilot program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H117.IH H117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 117 IH ‘‘(C) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 1 use the reports required under subparagraph 2 (A) to evaluate, and conduct statistical research 3 on, infant mortality pilot programs funded 4 through this subsection. 5 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 6 subsection: 7 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Admin- 8 istrator’ means the Administrator of the Health 9 Resources and Services Administration. 10 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi- 11 ble entity’ means a county, city, territorial, or 12 tribal health department that has submitted a 13 proposal to the Secretary that the Secretary 14 deems likely to reduce infant mortality rates 15 within the standard metropolitan statistical 16 area involved. 17 ‘‘(C) TRIBAL.—The term ‘tribal’ refers to 18 an Indian tribe, a Tribal organization, or an 19 Urban Indian organization, as such terms are 20 defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 21 Improvement Act.’’; and 22 (3) by amending subsection (f), as so redesig- 23 nated— 24 (A) in paragraph (1)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H117.IH H117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 117 IH (i) by amending the paragraph head- 1 ing to read: ‘‘HEALTHY START INITIA- 2 TIVE’’; and 3 (ii) by inserting after ‘‘carrying out 4 this section’’ the following: ‘‘(other than 5 subsection (e))’’; 6 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 7 paragraph (3); 8 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(2) INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS.— 11 There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 12 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024 to carry 13 out subsection (e). Amounts authorized by this para- 14 graph to be appropriated to carry out subsection (e) 15 are in addition to amounts authorized by paragraph 16 (1) to be appropriated to carry out the Healthy 17 Start Initiative under subsection (a).’’; and 18 (D) in paragraph (3)(A), as so redesig- 19 nated, by striking ‘‘the program under this sec- 20 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘the program under sub- 21 section (a)’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H117.IH H117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS