On December 19, the House passed, by voice vote, the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early (PREEMIE) Reauthorization Act (S. 1440), as amended. The Senate approved its version of the bill on November 15 (see The Source, 11/16/12). The Senate is expected to vote on the House-amended version of the legislation before sending the measure to President Obama.
The House-passed version of the bill maintains provisions of S. 1440 that would reauthorize the PREEMIE Act (P.L. 109-450) through FY2017. Under the measure, the secretary of the Department 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. Both versions of the legislation also would authorize $5 million annually through FY2017 to expand demonstration projects established by the PREEMIE Act, and would allow the secretary of HHS to establish an Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality.
Unlike the Senate version of the bill, the House amendments would establish a National Pediatric Research Network in order to conduct basic, clinical, behavioral, or translational research on rare conditions affecting children. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be responsible for providing grants to pediatric research groups, establishing a data-coordinating center to distribute research findings, and collecting reports on each research group’s activities.
The House amendments also would reauthorize through FY2017 annual payments to children’s hospitals that operate graduate medical education programs; $110 million would be authorized annually for direct medical training, including residency training and salaries. An additional $220 million would be authorized annually for indirect costs, including those associated with the treatment of severely ill patients
