On March 28, 2022, President Biden released his Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) budget request. The budget proposes $127.3 billion in discretionary and $1.7 trillion in mandatory budget authority for the Department of Health and Human Services for FY 2023.

The budget demonstrates the Administration’s commitment to areas such as health equity and maternal health, among other priority areas. According to HHS, “It also advances equity through the work of the federal government and helps ensure our programs serve people of color and other marginalized populations with the opportunities promised to all Americans.”

Aligning for Health was pleased to see the inclusion of several key provisions related to SDOH, health equity, and maternal health in this budget request, including $153 million in funding to the CDC for the Social Determinants of Health program. Through this particular request, CDC will continue to expand SDOH efforts by funding another round of Social Determinant Accelerator Plans to states, tribes, territories, and/or localities to develop or enhance existing SDOH plans and sustained funding to support SDOH implementation program, evaluation, research, and data collection efforts.

For a full summary of the SDOH-related provisions included in the request, click here or see below:

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (H.R. 2471). This bill consisted of all 12 fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills and supplemental funding to support Ukraine. The House passed this bill on March 9, 2022, and the Senate passed it on March 10, 2022.

Aligning for Health was pleased to see the inclusion of several key social determinants of health provisions included in this package. Along with the appropriations bill, the accompanying Joint Explanatory Statement and House Committee on Appropriations Report for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies for Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations included specific instructions with respect to the appropriated amounts.

Below, we have pulled notable provisions related to social determinants of health, health equity, and maternal health that were included as part of this package. You can also find a summary of these provisions here.

Aligning for Health submitted comments in response to the proposal for Improving Experiences for Dually Eligible Individuals: Standardizing Housing, Food Insecurity, and Transportation Questions on Health Risk Assessments (§ 422.101) within the CMS Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs.

Aligning for Health supports CMS’ proposal to require Special Needs Plans (SNPs) to include one or more standardized questions on the topics of housing stability, food insecurity, and access to transportation as part of Health Risk Assessments. We believe that these questions will help SNPs gather the necessary information to inform the development and implementation of each enrollee’s comprehensive individualized plan of care. Further, information from social needs screenings should be used to connect enrollees to covered services or resources to help meet their needs, if consistent with the enrollee’s goals and preferences.

To read the letter, click here or see below:

Aligning for Health submitted comments in response to the CMS Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for CY2023 for Medicare Advantage Capitation Rates and Part C and Part D Payment Policies.

Aligning for Health was pleased to see CMS propose the following potential new measure concepts and methodological enhancements for future years in the Advance Notice and provided recommendations for CMS to consider in developing these concepts:

• Measure of Contracts’ Assessment of Beneficiary Needs (Part C), which would be developed by CMS and would assess whether a contract’s enrollees have had their health-related social needs assessed, using a standardized screening tool; and
• Screening and Referral to Services for Social Needs (Part C), which is being developed by NCQA and would assess screening for unmet needs and referral to intervention for those who screened positive.

To read the letter, click here or see below:

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.”