I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 282
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require hospitals reim-
bursed under the Medicare system to establish and implement security
procedures to reduce the likelihood of infant patient abduction and baby
switching, including procedures for identifying all infant patients in the
hospital in a manner that ensures that it will be evident if infants
are missing from the hospital.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY11, 2023
Ms. J
ACKSONLEEintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on
the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require
hospitals reimbursed under the Medicare system to estab-
lish and implement security procedures to reduce the
likelihood of infant patient abduction and baby switching,
including procedures for identifying all infant patients
in the hospital in a manner that ensures that it will
be evident if infants are missing from the hospital.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Infant Protection and 2
Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2023’’. 3
SEC. 2. MEDICARE PAYMENTS TO HOSPITALS CONTINGENT 4
ON IMPLEMENTATION OF SECURITY PROCE-5
DURES REGARDING INFANT PATIENT PRO-6
TECTION AND BABY SWITCHING. 7
(a) A
GREEMENTS WITHHOSPITALS.—Section 8
1866(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 9
1395cc(a)(1)) is amended— 10
(1) in subparagraphs (W) and (X), by moving 11
the margin of each subparagraph 2 ems to the left; 12
(2) in subparagraph (X), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 13
the end; 14
(3) in subparagraph (Y), by striking the period 15
at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 16
(4) by inserting after subparagraph (Y) the fol-17
lowing new subparagraph: 18
‘‘(Z) in the case of hospitals and critical access 19
hospitals that provide neonatal or infant care, to 20
have in effect security procedures that meet stand-21
ards established by the Secretary (in consultation 22
with appropriate organizations) to reduce the likeli-23
hood of infant patient abduction and baby switching, 24
including standards for identifying all infant pa-25
tients in the hospital in a manner that ensures that 26
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it will be evident if infants are missing from the hos-1
pital.’’. 2
(b) R
EGULATIONS.— 3
(1) I
N GENERAL.—In promulgating regulations 4
under subparagraph (Z) of section 1866(a)(1) of the 5
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc(a)(1)), as 6
added by subsection (a), the Secretary of Health and 7
Human Services shall— 8
(A) consult with various organizations rep-9
resenting consumers, appropriate State and 10
local regulatory agencies, hospitals, and critical 11
access hospitals; 12
(B) take into account variations in size 13
and location of hospitals and critical access hos-14
pitals, and the percentage of overall services 15
furnished by such hospitals and critical access 16
hospitals that neonatal care and infant care 17
represent; and 18
(C) promulgate specific regulations that 19
address each size and type of hospital covered. 20
(2) D
EADLINE FOR PUBLICATION .—Not later 21
than 12 months after the date of the enactment of 22
this Act, the Secretary shall publish the regulations 23
required under paragraph (1). In order to carry out 24
this requirement in a timely manner, the Secretary 25
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may promulgate regulations that take effect on an 1
interim basis, after notice and pending opportunity 2
for public comment. 3
(c) P
ENALTIES.— 4
(1) A
MOUNT OF PENALTY .—A hospital that 5
participates in the Medicare program under title 6
XVIII of the Social Security Act under an agree-7
ment pursuant to section 1866 of such Act (42 8
U.S.C. 1395cc) that commits a violation described in 9
paragraph (2) is subject to a civil money penalty of 10
not more than $50,000 (or not more than $25,000 11
in the case of a hospital with fewer than 100 beds) 12
for each such violation. 13
(2) V
IOLATION DESCRIBED .—A hospital de-14
scribed in paragraph (1) commits a violation for 15
purposes of this subsection if the hospital fails to 16
have in effect security procedures that meet stand-17
ards established by the Secretary of Health and 18
Human Services under section 1866(a)(1)(Z) of 19
such Act, as added by subsection (a), to reduce the 20
likelihood of infant patient abduction and baby 21
switching, including standards for identifying all in-22
fant patients in the hospital in a manner that en-23
sures that it will be evident if infants are missing 24
from the hospital. 25
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(3) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS .—The provi-1
sions of section 1128A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2
1320a–7a), other than subsections (a) and (b), shall 3
apply to a civil money penalty under this subsection 4
in the same manner as such provisions apply with 5
respect to a penalty or proceeding under section 6
1128A(a) of such Act. 7
(d) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—This section, and the amend-8
ments made by this section, shall take effect on the date 9
that is 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 10
Act, and shall apply to contracts entered into or renewed 11
under section 1866 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 12
1395cc) on or after such date. 13
SEC. 3. BABY SWITCHING PROHIBITED. 14
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 18, United 15
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-16
lowing: 17
‘‘SEC. 1205. BABY SWITCHING. 18
‘‘(a) Whoever being in interstate commerce knowingly 19
alters or destroys an identification record of a newborn 20
patient with the intention that the newborn patient be 21
misidentified by any person shall be fined not more than 22
$250,000 in the case of an individual and not more than 23
$500,000 in the case of an organization, or imprisoned 24
not more than ten years, or both. 25
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‘‘(b) As used in this section, the term ‘identification 1
record’ means a record maintained by a hospital to aid 2
in the identification of newborn patients of the hospital, 3
including any of the following: 4
‘‘(1) The footprint, fingerprint, or photograph 5
of the newborn patient. 6
‘‘(2) A written description of the infant. 7
‘‘(3) An identification bracelet or anklet put on 8
the newborn patient, or the mother of the newborn 9
patient, by a staff member of the hospital.’’. 10
(b) C
LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 11
at the beginning of chapter 55 of title 18, United States 12
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 13
item: 14
‘‘1205. Baby switching.’’.
Æ
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