HR 3866 IH: Maternal and Infant Syphilis Prevention Act
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HR 3866 IH: Maternal and Infant Syphilis Prevention Act

This is a summary of the HR 3866 IH bill, which aims to improve the screening and treatment of congenital syphilis under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Findings

In 2023, there were 209,253 cases of syphilis in the United States, an 80% increase since 2018.
Untreated syphilis can cause serious damage to the heart and brain, as well as blindness, deafness, and paralysis.
The number of congenital syphilis cases has increased by 3,882 (a 3% increase from 2022), resulting in 252 stillbirths and 27 infant deaths.
Congenital syphilis can cause miscarriage, lifelong medical issues, and infant death, as well as health issues for babies at birth.
High incidence rates of congenital syphilis are often due to lack of timely testing or inadequate treatment during pregnancy.

Guidance and Technical Assistance Under State Medicaid Programs and CHIPs

The Secretary shall issue guidance to state agencies responsible for administering state Medicaid programs, CHIPs, or both, on best practices with respect to actions that state Medicaid programs, CHIPs, Indian health programs, and urban Indian health programs may take.

Improving access to expand syphilis screening for pregnant women and babies
Best practices for educating medical professionals and pregnant women with respect to syphilis
Strategies for integrating telehealth services and training for providers and patients on the use of telehealth
Best practices for increasing testing for syphilis in the third trimester and at delivery
Improving treatment for syphilis and congenital syphilis

Definitions

The terms ‘Indian tribe’, ‘tribal organization’, ‘Urban Indian’, ‘Urban Indian organization’, and ‘Indian health program’ have the meanings given those terms in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603).
The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The term ‘State’ has the meaning given such term in section 1101(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1301(a)(1)) for purposes of titles XIX and XXI of such Act.
The term ‘State CHIP’ means a State child health plan for child health assistance under title XXI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.), and includes any waiver of such a plan.
The term ‘State Medicaid program’ means a State plan for medical assistance under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), and includes any waiver of such a plan.

Report to Congress

The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate, and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and make publicly available, a report analyzing the implementation of the best practices described in subsection (a).