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H.R. 142 117th Congress House

Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2021

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 4, 2021 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 117th Congress ended
It never became law before the 117th Congress (2021–2022) 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
Mar 2, 2021
Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
Feb 2, 2021
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Jan 4, 2021
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 4, 2021
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Jan 4, 2021
Introduced in House
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 Latest action March 2, 2021

Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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.

 Related & companion bills 2
  • HR 282 Reintroduced Bill Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2023
  • HR 53 Reintroduction of Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2019
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 6
 Lobbying activity 3

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

  • EARTHJUSTICE
    for EARTHJUSTICE · District of Columbia · 1st Quarter 2026 (Jan 1 - Mar 31)
  • AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY
    for AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY · Virginia · 3rd Quarter 2025 (July 1 - Sep 30)
  • AFL-CIO
    for AFL-CIO · District of Columbia · 1st Quarter 2025 (Jan 1 - Mar 31)

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 142: Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2021. 117th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/117-HR-142/
MLA
"H.R. 142: Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2021." 117th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/117-HR-142/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 142, 117th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/117-HR-142/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 142: Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act of 2021](https://openamerica.io/bill/117-HR-142/)
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