HR 1493119th CongressIn Committee

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

Introduced: Feb 21, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

This bill aims to reauthorize and strengthen federal programs that work to prevent, detect, and treat traumatic brain injuries (TBI). It broadens data collection and surveillance on TBI, expands prevention efforts to include incidence and prevalence, risk factors, and high-risk populations (including occupational or situational factors), and supports better information sharing through the CDC. It also extends and broadens funding for state grants and tribal programs, adds maintenance-of-effort and cost-matching provisions, and updates definitions and program timing. In addition, the bill requires Congress to receive reports on high-risk populations and data gaps within two years, and it requires a study on long-term symptoms or conditions related to TBI with a public report. Overall, the measure seeks to improve how TBI is tracked, prevented, and treated, while increasing federal and state accountability and information available to the public.

Key Points

1National program for TBI surveillance and registries:
2- Expands data collection to include TBI incidence and prevalence, prevalence trends, risk factors, causes, and high-risk populations.
3- Requires inclusion of occupational or circumstantial risk factors and potential links to related mental health conditions.
4- Adds public availability of aggregated TBI data via the CDC, including information tailored to high-risk populations.
5Authorization and scope:
6- Extends program authorization years to 2026–2030 (from 2020–2024 in current law baseline).
7- Updates program names and headings to reflect new emphasis on surveillance, data, and prevention.
8State and tribal grants:
9- Expands grant considerations to include higher-risk populations and tribal jurisdictions.
10- Adds maintenance-of-effort requirement for states/tribal consortia, ensuring non-federal spending levels are maintained.
11- Allows a waiver of up to 50% of the matching fund requirement in certain cases to enable program operations.
12Definitions and administration:
13- Allows the Secretary to revise the definition of “traumatic brain injury” after consultation, to reflect evolving understanding.
14- Clarifies program scope to include relevant federal departments and agencies.
15Reporting and study requirements:
16- Within two years after enactment, the Secretary must report to Congress on high-risk populations (e.g., domestic violence/sexual assault survivors, public safety officers) and data collection gaps, outreach efforts, and challenges.
17- Requires a study on long-term or chronic symptoms after TBI, including incidence/prevalence, links to conditions like dementia or mental health issues, current services, and gaps in research.
18- Public report of study findings, with a potential public online posting of the results.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Individuals at higher risk for TBI (including those affected by domestic violence or sexual violence and public safety personnel), and populations identified as higher risk due to occupational or circumstantial factors.- States and American Indian consortia, tribal health entities, and health departments that administer TBI grants.Secondary group/area affected- Healthcare providers, researchers, and public health agencies (notably the CDC and other HHS components) responsible for data collection, surveillance, and dissemination.- Families and caregivers of people with TBI, and educational and community-based providers involved in prevention and early detection.Additional impacts- Increased availability and accessibility of aggregated TBI data to the public, aiding transparency and public awareness.- Enhanced funding mechanisms and program requirements for states/tribal entities, potentially influencing state budgets and program planning.- Policy and definitions updates reflecting evolving understanding of TBI, with potential implications for research priorities and clinical guidelines.- Short- to mid-term administrative workload for federal and state agencies to implement expanded reporting, data sharing, and maintenance-of-effort requirements.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Nov 18, 2025