Improving Social Determinants of Health Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4440 To authorize the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out a Social Determinants of Health Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 5, 2020 Ms. SMITH (for herself, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. KING, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. CARPER, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To authorize the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out a Social Determinants of Health Program, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Improving Social De- 4 terminants of Health Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4440 IS (1) Healthy People 2020 defines social deter- 1 minants of health as conditions in the environments 2 in which people live, learn, work, play, worship, and 3 age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, 4 and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. 5 (2) One of the overarching goals of Healthy 6 People 2020 is to ‘‘create social and physical envi- 7 ronments that promote good health for all’’. 8 (3) Healthy People 2020 developed a ‘‘place- 9 based’’ organizing framework, reflecting five key 10 areas of social determinants of health namely— 11 (A) economic stability; 12 (B) education; 13 (C) social and community context; 14 (D) health and health care; and 15 (E) neighborhood and built environment. 16 (4) It is estimated that medical care accounts 17 for only 10 to 20 percent of the modifiable contribu- 18 tors to healthy outcomes for a population. 19 (5) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv- 20 ices has indicated the importance of the social deter- 21 minants in its work stating that, ‘‘As we seek to fos- 22 ter innovation, rethink rural health, find solutions to 23 the opioid epidemic, and continue to put patients 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4440 IS first, we need to take into account social deter- 1 minants of health and recognize their importance.’’. 2 (6) The Department of Health and Human 3 Services’ Public Health 3.0 initiative recognizes the 4 role of public health in working across sectors on so- 5 cial determinants of health, as well as the role of 6 public health as chief health strategist in commu- 7 nities. 8 (7) Through its Health Impact in 5 Years ini- 9 tiative, the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 10 tion has highlighted nonclinical, community-wide ap- 11 proaches that show positive health impacts, results 12 within five years, and cost effectiveness or cost sav- 13 ings over the lifetime of the population or earlier. 14 (8) Health departments and the Centers for 15 Disease Control and Prevention are not funded for 16 such cross-cutting work. 17 (9) Providing grants to public health depart- 18 ments and other eligible entities to coordinate cross- 19 sector collaboration will allow a community-wide, evi- 20 dence-based approach to address underlying social 21 determinants of health. 22 SEC. 3. SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH PROGRAM. 23 (a) PROGRAM.—To the extent and in the amounts 24 made available in advance in appropriations Acts, the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4440 IS retary of Health and Human Services, acting through the 1 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- 2 tion (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Director’’), shall carry 3 out a program, to be known as the Social Determinants 4 of Health Program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro- 5 gram’’), to achieve the following goals: 6 (1) Improve health outcomes and reduce health 7 inequities by coordinating social determinants of 8 health activities across the Centers for Disease Con- 9 trol and Prevention. 10 (2) Improve the capacity of public health agen- 11 cies and community organizations to address social 12 determinants of health in communities. 13 (b) ACTIVITIES.—To achieve the goals listed in sub- 14 section (a), the Director shall carry out activities including 15 the following: 16 (1) Coordinating across the Centers for Disease 17 Control and Prevention to ensure that relevant pro- 18 grams consider and incorporate social determinants 19 of health in grant awards and other activities. 20 (2) Awarding grants under section 4 to State, 21 local, territorial, and Tribal health departments and 22 organizations, and to other eligible entities, to ad- 23 dress social determinants of health in target commu- 24 nities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4440 IS (3) Awarding grants under section 5 to non- 1 profit organizations and public or other nonprofit in- 2 stitutions of higher education— 3 (A) to conduct research on best practices 4 to improve social determinants of health; 5 (B) to provide technical assistance, train- 6 ing, and evaluation assistance to grantees under 7 section 4; and 8 (C) to disseminate best practices to grant- 9 ees under section 4. 10 (4) Coordinating, supporting, and aligning ac- 11 tivities of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 12 vention related to social determinants of health with 13 activities of other Federal agencies related to social 14 determinants of health, including such activities of 15 agencies in the Department of Health and Human 16 Services such as the Centers for Medicare & Med- 17 icaid Services. 18 (5) Collecting and analyzing data related to the 19 social determinants of health. 20 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO ADDRESS SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF 21 HEALTH. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, as part of the Pro- 23 gram, shall award grants to eligible entities to address so- 24 cial determinants of health in their communities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4440 IS (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to apply for a grant 1 under this section, an entity shall be— 2 (1) a State, local, territorial, or Tribal health 3 agency or organization; 4 (2) a qualified nongovernmental entity, as de- 5 fined by the Director; or 6 (3) a consortium of entities that includes a 7 State, local, territorial, or Tribal health agency or 8 organization. 9 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section 11 shall be used to address social determinants of 12 health in a target community by designing and im- 13 plementing innovative, evidence-based, cross-sector 14 strategies. 15 (2) TARGET COMMUNITY.—For purposes of this 16 section, a target community shall be a State, county, 17 city, Tribe, or other municipality. 18 (d) PRIORITY AND SET ASIDE.— 19 (1) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 20 section, the Director shall prioritize applicants pro- 21 posing to serve target communities with significant 22 unmet health and social needs, as defined by the Di- 23 rector. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4440 IS (2) SET ASIDE.—The Director shall set aside 5 1 percent of amounts appropriated to carry out this 2 section in each fiscal year to award grants to Indian 3 Tribes and Tribal organizations. 4 (e) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec- 5 tion, an eligible entity shall— 6 (1) submit an application at such time, in such 7 manner, and containing such information as the Di- 8 rector may require; 9 (2) propose a set of activities to address social 10 determinants of health through evidence-based, 11 cross-sector strategies, which activities may in- 12 clude— 13 (A) collecting quantifiable data from health 14 care, social services, and other entities regard- 15 ing the most significant gaps in health-pro- 16 moting social, economic, and environmental 17 needs; 18 (B) identifying evidence-based approaches 19 to meeting the nonmedical, social needs of pop- 20 ulations identified by data collection described 21 in subparagraph (A), such as unstable housing 22 or inadequate food; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4440 IS (C) developing scalable methods to meet 1 patients’ social needs identified in clinical set- 2 tings or other sites; 3 (D) convening entities such as local and 4 State governmental and nongovernmental orga- 5 nizations, health systems, payors, and commu- 6 nity-based organizations to review, plan, and 7 implement community-wide interventions and 8 strategies to advance health-promoting social 9 conditions; 10 (E) monitoring and evaluating the impact 11 of activities funded through the grant on the 12 health and well-being of the residents of the 13 target community and on the cost of health 14 care; and 15 (F) such other activities as may be speci- 16 fied by the Director; 17 (3) demonstrate how the eligible entity will col- 18 laborate with— 19 (A) health systems; 20 (B) payors, including, as appropriate, Med- 21 icaid managed care organizations (as defined in 22 section 1903(m)(1)(A) of the Social Security 23 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(m)(1)(A))), Medicare 24 Advantage plans under part C of title XVIII of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4440 IS such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–21 et seq.), and 1 health insurance issuers and group health plans 2 (as such terms are defined in section 2791 of 3 the Public Health Service Act); 4 (C) other relevant stakeholders and initia- 5 tives in areas of need, such as the Accountable 6 Health Communities Model of the Centers for 7 Medicare & Medicaid Services, health homes 8 under the Medicaid program under title XIX of 9 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 10 seq.), community-based organizations, and 11 human services organizations; 12 (D) other non-health care sector organiza- 13 tions, including organizations focusing on trans- 14 portation, housing, or food access; and 15 (E) local employers; and 16 (4) identify key health inequities in the target 17 community and demonstrate how the proposed ef- 18 forts of the eligible entity would address such inequi- 19 ties. 20 (f) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—As a condition 21 of receipt of a grant under this section, a grantee shall 22 agree to submit an annual report to the Director describ- 23 ing the activities carried out through the grant and the 24 outcomes of such activities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4440 IS (g) INDEPENDENT NATIONAL EVALUATION.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after 2 the first grants are awarded under this section, the 3 Director shall provide for the commencement of an 4 independent national evaluation of the Program 5 under this section. 6 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 7 days after receiving the results of such independent 8 national evaluation, the Director shall report such 9 results to the Committee on Health, Education, 10 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Com- 11 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 12 Representatives. 13 SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND TRAINING. 14 The Director, as part of the Program— 15 (1) shall award grants to nonprofit organiza- 16 tions and public or other nonprofit institutions of 17 higher education— 18 (A) to conduct research on best practices 19 to improve social determinants of health; 20 (B) to provide technical assistance, train- 21 ing, and evaluation assistance to grantees under 22 section 4; and 23 (C) to disseminate best practices to grant- 24 ees under section 4; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4440 IS (2) may require a grantee under paragraph (1) 1 to provide technical assistance and capacity building 2 to entities that are eligible entities under section 4 3 but not receiving funds through such section. 4 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 6 priated to carry out this Act, $50,000,000 for each of fis- 7 cal years 2021 through 2026. 8 (b) ALLOCATION.—Of the amount made available to 9 carry out this Act for a fiscal year, not less than 75 per- 10 cent shall be used for grants under sections 4 and 5. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4440.IS S4440 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS