WASHINGTON, DC - The Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), today held a hearing to examine bipartisan legislation to improve health care for newborns, infants, and children.
“As many of you know, one of this subcommittee’s top priorities has been helping and protecting children and families," said Pitts. “These bipartisan bills that are the subject of today’s hearing, represent our ongoing effort to work together to strengthen public health and solve problems in our nation’s health care system."
Members and witnesses shared their support for the three bipartisan bills:
Speaking in support of H.R. 2820, the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act, introduced by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Doris Matsui (D-CA), Cord Blood Association President Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg said: “I also want to acknowledge this committee’s unwavering bipartisan commitment to the creation and support of public cord blood banks. … This legislation not only reauthorized the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) but also created a national network of public cord blood banks. The law also provides health care professionals the ability to search for bone marrow and cord blood units through a single electronic point of access, which is operated by NMDP."
Behavior Health System Baltimore’s Medical Director Dr. Mishka Terplan explained H.R. 1462, the Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015, authored by Reps. Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Steve Stivers (R-OH), “will improve access to quality treatment and care for pregnant women with opioid addiction and their infants."
H.R. 1344, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2015, authored by Health Subcommittee Vice Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), “is focused on continuing to provide limited federal support to programs already in place to improve hearing screening for newborn infants and young children," said Arkansas Children’s Hospital Audiology and Speech Language Pathology Director Dr. Patti Freemeyer Martin.
“Tremendous strides have been made with increasing the number of newborn babies receiving hearing tests. But there is still work to be done to ensure that each and every child born in the United States receives this important testing," Guthrie explained.
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s Dr. Stephen W. Patrick and National Marrow Donor Program CEO Dr. Jeff Chell also shared their support for the legislation.
