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HR 53 116th Congress House

Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2019

Official title: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require hospitals reimbursed under the Medicare system to establish and implement security procedures to red… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: 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.

Introduced: January 3, 2019 See on congress.gov
Health Child healthChild safety and welfareCivil actions and liabilityCrimes against children
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Criminal procedure and sentencingHospital careMedicare
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This bill died when the 116th Congress ended
It never became law before the 116th Congress (2019–2020) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 5 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 31, 2019
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Jan 25, 2019
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Jan 3, 2019
Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Jan 3, 2019
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Jan 3, 2019
Introduced in House
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 Latest action January 31, 2019

Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2019

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.

 Related & companion bills 1
  • HR 142 Reintroduced Bill Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2021
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 6
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 53: Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2019. 116th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HR-53/
MLA
"H.R. 53: Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2019." 116th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HR-53/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 53, 116th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HR-53/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 53: Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2019](https://openamerica.io/bill/116-HR-53/)
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