Early Hearing Detection and INTERVENTION Bill Introduced

Editor: In the last decade we've made outstanding progress in detecting infants with hearing loss. What we haven't done such a good job of is ensuring they get the support and assistance they need. A recently introduced bill intends to correct that.

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U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) today announced bipartisan legislation to improve the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss in young children. Each year, more than 12,000 babies are born with a hearing loss. The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2010 builds on the success of legislation introduced nearly a decade ago by Harkin, Snowe and former Senator Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), The Newborn and Infant Hearing Screening and Intervention Act of 1999. The measure, which was enacted into law in 1999, helped achieve major progress in screening young children for hearing loss.

"Each year in the United States more than 12,000 children are born with a hearing impairment," Senator Harkin said. "And like so many health issues, early detection is a critical component. We have made great progress in the past ten years in helping ensure that our children get the hearing screening, follow-up care, and early intervention services they need in order to be successful. This bill will improve and expand these services, and will help our children develop communication and language skills that will last a lifetime."

"In the ten years since Congress authorized the early hearing detection and intervention programs, we have made remarkable strides in screening. Yet there is clear room for improvement as too many babies who receive a confirmed diagnosis still fail to be referred to early intervention services" said Senator Snowe. "This legislation is vital to ensuring that children receive appropriate treatment and follow up services to preserve their health and enhance their development."

The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2010 would authorize funding for early hearing loss detection and intervention activities at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for fiscal years 2010 through 2015. The bill supports the development of 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. The bill includes the establishment and fostering of family-to-family support mechanisms that are critical in the first months after a child is identified with hearing loss. Finally, it would require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to establish a postdoctoral research program to foster research and development in the area of early hearing detection and intervention.