Preemie Act
PREEMIE ACT -- (Senate - December 08, 2006)
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Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of the passage of the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early Act, the PREEMIE Act. This legislation which I introduced with Senator LAMAR ALEXANDER passed unanimously in the Senate last August and I am pleased to inform my colleagues that after working with the House on some modifications to the bill, it has now passed in both Chambers.
The PREEMIE Act takes a big step toward understanding the causes of premature birth and how to prevent it. Specifically, the bill authorizes approximately $65 million over 5 years to expand and intensify activities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to preterm births and infant mortality, to study the relationship between prematurity and birth defects, to carry out a public and health care provider education and supportive services effort, to authorize an Interagency Coordinating Council on Prematurity and Low Birthweight, and to convene a Surgeon General's Conference on Preterm Birth which will make recommendations to the public and private sectors on ways to better identify and treat the causes of and risk factors for preterm labor and delivery.
This is not the same bill the Senate passed unanimously. To begin with, this bill authorizes $26 million less than the bill the Senate passed last August. This is due in large part to the removal of authorizations for multidisciplinary research underway at the National Institutes of Health. It is my hope that despite these changes, the NIH will continue this vital research in order to better understand the role DNA plays in prematurity and to improve maternal and fetal health outcomes.
Nearly 1 out of every 8 babies in the U.S. is born prematurely--that is more than 1,300 babies each day and more than 500,000 each year. According to recent data, in 2002 the infant mortality rate actually increased for the first time since 1958. Much of this increase is attributable to infant death in the first month of life, of which prematurity is the leading cause.
Although we know some risk factors associated with prematurity such as advanced age of the mother, smoking, and certain chronic diseases, the cause of nearly 50 percent of all premature births is still unknown. Prematurity has been linked to such long-term health problems as cerebral palsy, chronic lung disease, and vision and hearing loss.
According to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine, medical care costs due to prematurity and low birth weight were $16.9 billion in 2005, $33,200 per preterm infant. The March of Dimes estimates that about half of preterm birth medical care costs were paid for by Medicaid. For employers, health care costs for a premature baby during the first year of life average $41,610 compared to $2,830 for a full-term baby. However, none of these numbers can quantify the emotional toll a premature birth takes on a family.
That is why the PREEMIE bill is so essential. This legislation will go a long way toward helping families during what can be the most difficult moments of their baby's life and will help us better understand and prevent premature births in the future.
I conclude by thanking Senator Alexander for his leadership on this legislation. He has been a terrific partner in this effort and I look forward to working with him in the 110th Congress. I also thank Chairman Enzi and Ranking Member Kennedy and their staffs for making the passage of the PREEMIE Act a priority this Congress. Lastly, I would to recognize Page Kranbuhl of Senator Alexander's staff for her work on this legislation as well as Emil Wigode, Carolyn Doyle and Jo Merrill of the March of Dimes who have stood with us every step of the way.
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