1943
NFIP and the U.S. Children’s Bureau agree to coordinate activities and tracking of state services provided to disabled children.

1945

• U.S. Representative Ralph H. Daughton of Virginia introduces a bill (H.R. 4790) to create a dime “bearing the likeness of Franklin Delano Roosevelt." The first Roosevelt dime was minted in 1946.
• NFIP creates a “Law Research Unit” to track existing statutes and proposed legislation relating to public health and welfare, contagious disease control, education, and federal and state aid concerning the physically disabled.

1955
U.S. Congress approves the Poliomyelitis Vaccination Assistance Act (P.L. 84-377) authorizing the appropriation of $30 million as grants-in-aid to states for purchase of the Salk polio vaccine.

1959
March of Dimes president Basil O’Connor testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare in support of the International Health and Medical Research Act, popularly known as the " Health for Peace" bill. The legislation was enacted as the International Health Research Act of 1961 (P.L. 86-610).

1963
Massachusetts becomes the first state to enact a law mandating that every newborn be screened for phenylketonuria (PKU); March of Dimes grantee Robert Guthrie, MD (1916-1995) developed a simple blood test to detect PKU, a cause of brain damage and mental retardation. New York passed similar legislation in 1965.

1968
March of Dimes president Basil O’Connor supports the Neighborhood Health Center Act (S. 3835) to establish outpatient clinics and ambulatory care centers in low income communities, clinics focused particularly on prenatal care.

1973
March of Dimes leads the effort to create the Birth Defects Monitoring Program to be directed by the Center for Disease Control, formerly the Communicable Disease Center . The surveillance program is designed to provide early warning about patterns in the occurrence of birth defects in the United States in the wake of the thalidomide tragedy.

1974

• January is designated as “March of Dimes Birth Defects Prevention Month” by a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress.
• Authorization of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (P.L. 92-433), providing federal grants to states to provide nutritious food supplements to pregnant women, infants, and children. March of Dimes promoted creation of WIC and continues to advocate for appropriations, amendments, and re-authorizations.

1976
March of Dimes advocates for Congressional approval of the National Genetic Disease Act (Title XI of the Public Health Service Act), which authorizes federal funding for genetic testing and counseling programs and for education about genetic diseases. The act was renewed in 1979 and replaced by the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981 (P.L. 97-35).

1981

• President Ronald Regan hosts reunion of March of Dimes poster children at the White House to commemorate the United Nations Year of the Disabled Person.
• Title V programs of the Social Security Act were renamed the Materal and Child Health Services Block Grant Program (P.L. 97-35) providing federal funding to states for a broad array of preventive and specialty health services to women, infants and children.

1986
Congress establishes National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality. Supported by the March of Dimes, the commission made recommendations to the Administration and Congress on public policies designed to reduce infant mortality at a time when the U.S. ranked 23rd among industrial nations in its infant mortality rate.

1988

• Medicaid requires “states to phase in coverage for pregnant women and infants with incomes below 133% of the federal poverty level” (P.L. 100-360). March of Dimes supported the initiative and also advocated to provide coverage for drug treatment programs for pregnant women.
• Based on the research findings of a March of Dimes grantee, the Foundation supports the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act (P.L. 100-690) which requires warning labels on containers of alcoholic beverages that “women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects.”

1991
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launches the Healthy Start Initiative in 15 urban and rural locations with higher than average infant mortality rates. The March of Dimes provides financial assistance to support Healthy Start’s initial five-year demonstration designed to reduce infant mortality rates by 50% in the target communities.

1993
First introduced in 1988, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-3) is enacted. The March of Dimes supported the initiative, focusing its advocacy efforts on pregnant women with complications for whom standard maternity leave is to brief, as well as parents of premature infants or those with birth defects who need leave from work to attend to their newborns.

1994
The U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp in honor of Virginia Apgar, MD whose career in medicine culminated with 15 years of service as Medical Director of the March of Dimes.

1997
March of Dimes advocates for enactment of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) (P.L. 105-33). The $40 billion, 10-year program is designed to provide health care coverage for nearly half of the nation’s 11.6 uninsured children.

1998

• After three years of advocacy led by the March of Dimes and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves fortification of enriched grain products with the B vitamin folic acid to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects.
• Culminating six years of advocacy led by the March of Dimes, the Birth Defects Prevention Act (P.L. 105-168) is enacted setting the stage for creation of a nationwide network of birth defects monitoring and research programs.

2000
As a result of March of Dimes advocacy, the Children’s Health Act (P.L. 106-310) includes a provision creating the National Center on Birth Defects and Development Disabilities (the 7th of the centers that make up the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Other March of Dimes supported initiatives in the Children’s Health Act include creation of a new federal program to support state-based newborn screening, reauthorization of the Healthy Start program, and the National Children’s Study.

2003
March of Dimes advocacy leads to enactment of the Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Prevention Act (P.L. 108-154), which reauthorizes and expands the Birth Defects Prevention Act of 1998.

2006
Following two years of March of Dimes led advocacy, the Premature Research Expansion and Education Act for Mothers (PREEMIE) Act (P.L. 109-450) becomes law and sets the stage for expanding federal support for prematurity related research, education, and services for infants born too soon.

2007
Together with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of Children’s Hospitals, the March of Dimes leads a coalition that secures Congressional approval of an expanded State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) that includes explicit authority for states to enroll pregnant women in the program. The bill is vetoed twice, leading to enactment of a temporary extension and funding increase.