HR 6364
Kidd’s Stuttering Act
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Bill overview
The Kidd’s Stuttering Act aims to improve early identification and support for children who stutter. It requires healthcare providers to screen young children for fluency disorders, including stuttering, and mandates coverage of speech therapy services under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The bill seeks to ensure that children with these disorders receive timely and appropriate treatment.
Key provisions
- Requires screening for stuttering and speech fluency in core child health quality measures for children aged 2-6.
- Mandates screening for childhood-onset fluency disorders, including stuttering, during Medicaid well-child visits starting in 2027.
- Expands Medicaid coverage to include specified speech therapy services for children with stuttering, aligning treatment limitations with those for other language disorders.
- Requires CHIP to cover specified speech therapy services for targeted low-income children starting in 2027.
- Includes speech therapy services delivered through telehealth.
- Establishes a timeline for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish changes to core measures to include screening for fluency disorders.
- Revises definitions within the Social Security Act to clarify the scope of ‘specified speech therapy services’.
Who is affected
- Children aged 2-6 with potential stuttering or speech fluency disorders
- Parents and guardians of affected children
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Primary sponsor
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119th CONGRESS — 1st Session
H. R. 6364
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To amend titles XI, XIX, and XXI of the Social Security Act with respect to screening for childhood onset fluency disorders, and to require coverage of certain speech therapy services under Medicaid and CHIP.
This Act may be cited as the Kidd’s Stuttering Act
.
by striking Beginning no later than
and inserting the following:
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
Not later than January 1, 2026, the Secretary shall publish changes to the core measures described in subsection (a) to include measures of screening for childhood-onset fluency disorders, including stuttering, for children who have attained the age of 2 (and have not attained the age of 6).
in clause (iv), by striking and
at the end;
in clause (v), by striking the period at the end and inserting , and
; and
by adding at the end the following new clause:
Title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) is amended—
in section 1902(a)—
in paragraph (10)(A), by striking and (30)
and inserting (30), and (32)
;
in paragraph (88)(B)(iii), by striking and
at the end;
in paragraph (89), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and
; and
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
in section 1905—
in subsection (a)—
in paragraph (31), by striking and
at the end;
by redesignating paragraph (32) as paragraph (33); and
by inserting after paragraph (31) the following new paragraph:
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
For purposes of subsection (a)(32), the term specified speech therapy services—
means speech therapy services for the treatment of childhood-onset fluency disorders, including stuttering; and
includes such services delivered through real-time, audio and video telecommunications technology.
Section 2103(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397cc(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
by redesignating subparagraphs (I) through (W) as subparagraphs (J) through (X), respectively; and
by inserting after subparagraph (H) the following new subparagraph: