LINC to Address Social Needs Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 509 To establish a program to assist States in establishing or enhancing community integration network infrastructure for health and social services. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 1, 2021 Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a program to assist States in establishing or enhancing community integration network infrastructure for health and social services. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Leveraging Integrated 4 Networks in Communities to Address Social Needs Act of 5 2021’’ or the ‘‘LINC to Address Social Needs Act of 6 2021’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 509 IS SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO SUPPORT ESTABLISHMENT OR EN- 1 HANCEMENT OF STATE COMMUNITY INTE- 2 GRATION NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE. 3 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall award 4 grants on a competitive basis to States to support such 5 States, through public-private partnerships, to establish 6 new or enhance existing community integration network 7 infrastructure through authorized activities under sub- 8 section (b). 9 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A State shall use a 10 grant under this section to carry out activities and services 11 to establish new or enhance existing community integra- 12 tion network infrastructure, on a statewide basis through 13 direct network operations or collaborations among mul- 14 tiple associated entities, which may include such entities 15 that operate regionally. Such activities and services shall 16 include— 17 (1) establishing a new or enhancing an existing 18 technology platform that— 19 (A) enables the coordination of public and 20 private providers and payors of services for in- 21 dividuals in the State, including services such 22 as— 23 (i) nutritional assistance; 24 (ii) housing; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 509 IS (iii) health care, including preventive 1 health intervention, chronic disease man- 2 agement, and behavioral health care; 3 (iv) transportation; 4 (v) job training; 5 (vi) child development or care; 6 (vii) caregiving and respite care; 7 (viii) disability assistance; and 8 (ix) other services, as determined by 9 the State; 10 (B) prioritizes connectivity with, incorpora- 11 tion of, and partnership with any appropriate 12 existing technology platforms developed by pub- 13 lic or private organizations in the State for the 14 purposes described in subparagraph (A); and 15 (C) ensures that— 16 (i) reasonable measures are taken to 17 promote connectivity among associated en- 18 tities; and 19 (ii) appropriate privacy, security, pro- 20 tections are in place, in accordance with 21 applicable Federal and State privacy laws; 22 (2) connecting associated entities for purposes 23 of communication, service coordination and con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 509 IS sumer assistance, referral and capacity management, 1 outcome tracking, and related services; 2 (3) providing technical assistance and sup- 3 porting associated entities in connecting and partici- 4 pating in the community integration network infra- 5 structure; 6 (4) planning for and implementing actions de- 7 signed to create sustainable funding models to sup- 8 port long-term access to community integration net- 9 work infrastructure; 10 (5) designing and implementing a financial 11 structure to make the community integration net- 12 work infrastructure financially self-sustaining not 13 later than 3 years after receiving funds under this 14 section; and 15 (6) evaluating the use of any funds provided 16 under this section. 17 (c) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this Act shall 19 be awarded under such terms and conditions as the 20 Secretary shall prescribe, including the guidelines es- 21 tablished under paragraph (3). 22 (2) MINIMIZING ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN.— 23 The Secretary shall seek to minimize the administra- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 509 IS tive burden of such terms and conditions and ensure 1 programmatic flexibility for unique State needs. 2 (3) GUIDELINES.—The Secretary shall— 3 (A) consult relevant stakeholders regarding 4 basic functionalities, technical capacities, and 5 data standards needed for community integra- 6 tion network infrastructure; and 7 (B) based on such consultations, establish 8 guidelines for awarding grants under this sec- 9 tion, including application requirements. 10 (d) APPLICATION.—A State desiring a grant under 11 this section shall— 12 (1) enter into a public-private partnership with 13 one or more— 14 (A) private, nonprofit, or philanthropic or- 15 ganizations; or 16 (B) Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, or 17 urban Indian organizations within the State; 18 and 19 (2) submit to the Secretary an application at 20 such time, in such manner, and containing or ac- 21 companied by such information as the Secretary may 22 require, including— 23 (A) a description of the agency or depart- 24 ment in the State government that will coordi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 509 IS nate with and oversee the partnership estab- 1 lished under paragraph (1); 2 (B) a plan for the establishment or en- 3 hancement of a community integration network 4 infrastructure including— 5 (i) the proposed transparent and com- 6 petitive process for selecting any new oper- 7 ational components of the community inte- 8 gration network infrastructure; 9 (ii) the planned governance structure 10 (including representation of different types 11 of associated entities) within the commu- 12 nity integration network infrastructure; 13 (iii) proposed associated entities and 14 services to be included in the community 15 integration network infrastructure; and 16 (iv) a plan for accessing and linking 17 relevant data to create community integra- 18 tion network infrastructure, including a de- 19 scription of intended sources of data; 20 (C) assurances that the funds awarded 21 under this section will be used solely carry out 22 authorized activities as described in subsection 23 (b) and other related activities; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 509 IS (D) potential options, including public-pri- 1 vate partnerships in addition to the partnership 2 described in paragraph (1), for making the 3 community integration network infrastructure 4 financially self-sustaining not later than 3 years 5 after receiving funds under this section; and 6 (E) a description of the objectives and out- 7 come goals of developing the community inte- 8 gration network infrastructure, including— 9 (i) one or more health outcomes; 10 (ii) one or more other important social 11 outcomes; 12 (iii) improved access to health care or 13 social services; and 14 (iv) how progress toward the outcomes 15 described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and 16 (C) will be measured through internal per- 17 formance metrics. 18 (e) SEPARATE TRIBAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—Nothing 19 in this section shall preclude Indian Tribes, Tribal organi- 20 zations, or urban Indian organizations from establishing 21 a community integration network infrastructure that is 22 separate from any other public-private partnership receiv- 23 ing funding under this section. 24 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 509 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 1 appropriated to carry out this section $150,000,000 2 for fiscal year 2022. 3 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Of the amounts appro- 4 priated pursuant to paragraph (1), up to $5,000,000 5 may be used for administrative expenses. 6 (3) DURATION OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts ap- 7 propriated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain 8 available until the date that is 5 years after the date 9 of enactment of this Act. 10 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 (1) ASSOCIATED ENTITIES.—The term ‘‘associ- 12 ated entities’’ means any— 13 (A) community-based organization that ac- 14 cepts referrals from health care organizations 15 and that provides services such as— 16 (i) nutritional assistance; 17 (ii) housing; 18 (iii) health care, including preventive 19 health intervention, chronic disease man- 20 agement, and behavioral health care; 21 (iv) transportation; 22 (v) job training; 23 (vi) child development or care; 24 (vii) caregiving and respite care; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 509 IS (viii) disability assistance; 1 (B) public, or nonprofit or for-profit, pri- 2 vate health care provider organization; 3 (C) public or private funded payor of 4 health care services, including home- or commu- 5 nity-based services; 6 (D) State, local, territorial, or Tribal 7 health and social services agency; 8 (E) State public housing authority or 9 housing finance agency; 10 (F) public health information exchange or 11 public health information network, as defined 12 by the Secretary; or 13 (G) other similar entity, as designated by 14 the State. 15 (2) COMMUNITY INTEGRATION NETWORK IN- 16 FRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘community integration 17 network infrastructure’’ means infrastructure, exist- 18 ing on statewide basis with direct network oper- 19 ations or through collaborations among multiple as- 20 sociated entities, used to enable the coordination, 21 alignment, and connection, of associated entities in 22 a State, including such entities that operate region- 23 ally, for purposes of communication, service coordi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 509 IS nation, and referral management of services, with 1 respect to services such as— 2 (A) nutritional assistance; 3 (B) housing; 4 (C) health care, including preventive health 5 intervention, chronic disease management, and 6 behavioral health care; 7 (D) transportation; 8 (E) job training; 9 (F) child development or care; 10 (G) caregiving and respite care; 11 (H) disability assistance; and 12 (I) other similar services, as designated by 13 the State. 14 (3) INDIAN TRIBE AND TRIBAL ORGANIZA- 15 TION.—The terms ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal orga- 16 nization’’ have the meanings given to the terms ‘In- 17 dian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ in section 4 of 18 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist- 19 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 20 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ refers 21 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 22 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 23 territory, or the District of Columbia. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 509 IS (6) URBAN INDIAN ORGANIZATION.—The term 1 ‘‘urban Indian organization’’ has the meaning given 2 to the term in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 3 Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603). 4 SEC. 3. EVALUATION, REPORT, AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 5 (a) EVALUATION.—The Comptroller General of the 6 United States shall conduct an evaluation that— 7 (1) measures the overall impact of the commu- 8 nity integration network infrastructure established 9 or enhanced using funds received under section 2, 10 with respect to— 11 (A) changes in individual and population 12 health outcomes; 13 (B) changes in access to health care or so- 14 cial services; 15 (C) the degree of data sharing using the 16 community integration network infrastructure 17 established or enhanced using funds received 18 under section 2; 19 (D) the effectiveness of service coordina- 20 tion; 21 (E) the cost-effectiveness of the provision 22 of services; 23 (F) any results or anticipated results on 24 overall health and social services spending; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 509 IS (G) patient and consumer satisfaction with 1 service coordination process and services re- 2 ceived; and 3 (H) any other relevant factors; and 4 (2) describes how the funds received under sec- 5 tion 2 were used. 6 (b) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later 7 than 4 years after the date the first grant under this Act 8 is awarded, the Comptroller General of the United States 9 shall— 10 (1)(A) submit a report on the evaluation con- 11 ducted under subsection (a) to Congress; and 12 (B) make such report publicly available; and 13 (2) based on the evaluation conducted under 14 subsection (a), make recommendations to States and 15 Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, or urban Indian 16 organizations, on how to improve and sustain com- 17 munity integration network infrastructure estab- 18 lished or enhanced using funds received under sec- 19 tion 2. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS