November 24, 2021
Aligning for Health is proud to support the introduction of the Leveraging Integrated Networks in Communities (LINC) to Address Social Needs Act (H.R. 6072) by Representatives Dan Kildee (D-MI), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and Richard Hudson (R-NC). Similar bipartisan, bicameral legislation was previously introduced by Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Chris Murphy (D-CT).
The LINC to Address Social Needs Act will help to build or enhance statewide or regional collaborations to better coordinate health care and social services by leveraging local expertise and technology to help connect people to food, housing, child development, job training, and transportation supports and services.
These and other social challenges have been proven to have clear implications on wellbeing and on population health. However, today’s health and social services systems and services are largely siloed. Investments to better align and coordinate between health care and social service entities and providers will yield better, more holistic health outcomes, reduce preventable health costs, and keep the most vulnerable populations from falling through the cracks.
The LINC to Address Social Needs Act will provide one-time seed funding for states, through public private partnerships, to facilitate cross-sector communication, service coordination and consumer assistance, referral and capacity management, and outcome tracking between social service and health care entities. States may use funding to establish or expand existing secure, interoperable technology networks, provide technical assistance and support to entities in connecting to the network, and to ensure sustainability.
This bill will create a new and unprecedented ability to share data and measure the impact of social interventions on health, health care spending, and community wellbeing. It will also allow health and social service organizations to better coordinate care and ensure maximum impact for available resources.
“As an organization dedicated to catalyzing the change that will break down the barriers between health and social service organizations, we applaud Representatives Kildee, Walorski, Blunt Rochester, and Hudson for their leadership in introducing the LINC to Address Social Needs Act,” said Melissa Quick, co-chair of Aligning for Health. “The bipartisan, bicameral bill will help to build and expand shared community resource and referral networks, helping to improve coordination between the health care and social service sectors. Aligning for Health looks forward to the passage of this exciting legislation.”