AHA-supported bill to help coordinate patients’ social needs introduced in House

Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., Lisa Blunt-Rochester, D-Del., and Richard Hudson, R-N.C., last week introduced in the House the Leveraging Integrated Networks in Communities to Address Social Needs Act (H.R. 6072), AHA-supported legislation that would provide funding for states to create or enhance public-private partnerships to coordinate health and social services. These state or regional partnerships would leverage local expertise and technology to help connect patients in need with food, housing, child development, job training, transportation or other social services. Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., introduced the Senate bill (S. 509) in March.

The AHA is a member of Aligning for Health, a coalition that advocates for federal and state solutions to address the social determinants of health, which also supports the legislation.