HR1493-119

What This Bill Does

This bill updates several Public Health Service Act traumatic brain injury programs. It expands CDC prevention and data work from incidence to incidence and prevalence, adds reduction of related injuries and fatalities, and requires attention to populations at higher risk because of occupational or circumstantial factors, causes and risk factors, and mental health or other conditions arising from TBI. It renames the national surveillance and registry program as the Bill Pascrell, Jr. national program for traumatic brain injury surveillance and registries, adds occupation data where relevant, adds short- and long-term outcomes, and requires CDC to make aggregated TBI and concussion information publicly available, including strategies tailored to higher-risk populations. It reauthorizes TBI-related programs for fiscal years 2026 through 2030. It updates state and American Indian consortium grants, adds Tribal outreach, requires maintenance of nonfederal effort, and allows the Secretary to waive up to 50 percent of the matching requirement for a fiscal year. It revises the TBI definition, permits later revisions after consultation, requires a report on higher-risk populations such as domestic violence and sexual assault survivors and public safety officers, and directs a study on long-term or chronic TBI symptoms, research evidence, correlations with dementia and mental health conditions, available services, and research gaps.

Who Benefits and How

People with traumatic brain injuries benefit because federal programs are reauthorized through 2030 and must collect better information on short-term and long-term outcomes. Higher-risk populations, including domestic violence survivors, sexual assault survivors, public safety officers, and people facing occupational risk, benefit because CDC and HHS must identify them and tailor prevention strategies. States benefit from continued grant authority and possible partial matching-fund waivers. American Indian consortia benefit from explicit grant treatment, Tribal outreach, maintenance-of-effort rules, and waiver access. Researchers and clinicians benefit from public aggregated data and a required study on chronic TBI effects, dementia risk, mental health links, services, and research gaps. Families and caregivers benefit from better public information about prevention, risk factors, and long-term conditions.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The HHS Secretary and CDC must update surveillance, publish aggregated data, consult with stakeholders, submit congressional reports, and conduct or contract for the long-term TBI study. States and American Indian consortia receiving grants must maintain nonfederal spending at least at the prior-year level unless granted a waiver. Grant applicants and program administrators must collect more detailed data, potentially including occupation, higher-risk population status, causes, risk factors, and outcomes. HHS must manage matching-fund waivers and may revise the statutory definition only after consultation.

Key Provisions

• Reauthorizes federal traumatic brain injury programs for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
• Expands CDC surveillance to incidence, prevalence, higher-risk populations, causes, risk factors, and short- and long-term outcomes.
• Requires CDC to publish aggregated TBI and concussion information and tailored prevention strategies.
• Updates state and American Indian consortium grant rules, including Tribal outreach, maintenance of effort, and partial matching waivers.
• Revises the traumatic brain injury definition and allows HHS to update it after consultation.
• Requires a report on higher-risk populations such as domestic violence survivors, sexual assault survivors, and public safety officers.
• Directs a study on chronic TBI symptoms, dementia and mental health correlations, available services, and research gaps.