U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is sponsoring a federal bill to examine the rising rate and treatment costs of neonatal abstinence syndrome or NAS.
Senator Capito introduced the bi-partisan bill Friday, along with two other U.S. senators.
According to a news release, The Nurturing and Supporting Healthy Babies Act will expand research into NAS and how to care for affected infants. It will also provide ways to study the prevalence of the syndrome.
Newborns with NAS require specialized care that can result in longer hospital stays and increased costs. A recent study found these costs can be more than five times the cost of caring for other newborns.
Author: Liz McCormick
Liz is WVPB's Webmaster/Digital Coordinator and Eastern Panhandle Bureau Chief, based in Shepherdstown, WV on Shepherd University's campus. Liz is a native of Charleston, West Virginia. She received a M.A. in Strategic Communication from American University in 2022 and a B.A. in Communication and New Media from Shepherd in 2014. Prior to her role as webmaster, Liz was WVPB's Eastern Panhandle reporter from 2014-2022, the House of Delegates reporter on "The Legislature Today" from 2015-2017, and she covered K-12/higher education from 2020-2022. Liz has also worked as a technical assistant and associate producer on "The Legislature Today."
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