On November 15, the Senate passed, by voice vote, the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early Reauthorization Act, also known as the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act (S. 1440). The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved the legislation on September 19 (see The Source, 9/21/12).
Sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the bill would reauthorize the PREEMIE Act (P.L. 109-450) through FY2017; the law expired in 2011. Under the measure, the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be required, acting through the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to conduct epidemiological studies on the factors relating to preterm birth and to improve national data to track the burden of preterm birth; $5 million would be authorized annually through FY2017 for such activities.
The legislation also would authorize $5 million annually through FY2017 to reauthorize and expand demonstration projects established by the PREEMIE Act in order to facilitate public and health care provider education and improve outcomes for preterm babies.
The bill would allow the secretary of HHS to establish the Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality, which would provide advice and recommendations to the secretary on strategies and efforts to reduce infant mortality and improve the health status of pregnant women and infants. It also would require HHS to conduct a study on hospital readmissions of preterm infants and to submit a report to Congress on the findings and recommendations resulting from the study.
During consideration of the measure, the Senate adopted, by voice vote, a substitute amendment by Sen. Alexander to strike provisions that would allow the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand and coordinate research efforts to reduce preterm birth.
