To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require hospitals reimbursed 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.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · March 2, 2021
Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2021
This bill establishes additional requirements that certain hospitals must meet in order to participate in Medicare. Specifically, as a condition of Medicare participation, hospitals and critical access hospitals that provide neonatal or infant care must have appropriate security procedures to reduce the likelihood of infant patient abduction and baby switching. Noncompliant hospitals are subject to specified civil penalties.
The bill also establishes criminal penalties for knowingly altering or destroying a newborn's hospital patient records for the purpose of causing the newborn to be misidentified.
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