H.R. 1493 — To reauthorize and make improvements to Federal programs relating to the prevention, detection, and treatment of traumatic brain injuries, and for other purposes.

This section revises the Bill Pascrell, Jr., national program for traumatic brain injury (TBI) surveillance and registries under sections 393B and 393C of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280b–1c, 280b–1d) to expand data collection, reporting, and public dissemination on TBI and concussion. It adds “prevalence” to the surveillance purposes, requires attention to the reduction of associated injuries and fatalities and related risk factors, extends the program’s planning horizon from 2020 to 2030, and directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to collect and publish aggregated information on higher-risk populations and tailored prevention strategies. It also renames section 393C as the Bill Pascrell, Jr., national program for traumatic brain injury surveillance and registries, requires collection of data identifying higher-risk populations and the causes of, and risk factors for, TBI, adds short- and long-term outcomes and evidence-based practices to identify and address concussion, and authorizes CDC to make aggregated TBI and concussion information publicly available on its website. The section reauthorizes appropriations for the program through FY2030 (from FY2024). This section also revises the State grant program for TBI projects under section 1252 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300d–52) by requiring outreach programs to take into consideration populations at higher risk for TBI and by adding Tribal entities to the eligible grant recipients and consortium references. It establishes a maintenance-of-effort requirement under which a State or American Indian consortium must maintain non-Federal spending at not less than the prior fiscal year’s level for grant-funded activities, and it authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to waive up to 50 percent of the matching-fund requirement for a single fiscal year if the full match would prevent the grantee from carrying out the program. It also revises the definition of traumatic brain injury to specify that the term means an acquired injury to the brain, may include brain injuries caused by anoxia due to trauma and damage resulting in infection, toxicity, surgery, or vascular disorders not associated with aging, and excludes congenital or degenerative disorders and birth trauma; the Secretary may revise that definition after consulting with States and other stakeholders.