Today, the House passed the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY2021) Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 7614) as part of a package of FY2021 appropriations bills (H.R. 7617).

Aligning for Health is excited to share that the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations Report includes language incorporating the Social Determinants Accelerator Act (H.R. 4004) (See here for more information about the bill.)

The Report would provide $10 million in funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to award grants to states to develop Social Determinants Accelerator Plans. It would also instruct the Secretary of HHS to convene a council to oversee the grants and to draft and release a report on federal cross-agency opportunities to address SDH.

We look forward to continuing to work with both the House and Senate sponsors of the Social Determinants Accelerator Act to identify additional legislative pathways to advance the bill over the coming months.

FY2021 House Labor-HHS Appropriations Report – Social Determinants Accelerator Program

  • CDC – Social Determinants of Health Pilot Program.—The Committee recognizes the role of public health in working across sectors on social determinants of health. The Committee includes $10,000,000 for CDC to establish a Social Determinants of Health pilot program to award competitive grants to State, local, Territorial, or Tribal jurisdictions to support the development of Social Determinants of Health Accelerator Plans. Such plans should include a description of the health and social outcome objectives of the Social Determinants Accelerator Plan; identify target populations that would benefit from implementation of the plan; and identify non-governmental public health organizations and community organizations that would participate in the development of the plan. Grantees may use a portion of grant funding to convene government entities and stakeholders and to engage qualified research experts in developing Social Determinants Accelerator Plans. The Committee directs CDC to submit a report within 120 days of enactment of this Act on how such grants will be administered.
  • HHS, Office of the Secretary – Social Determinants Council.—The Committee directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to form an interagency-intergovernmental Social Determinants Council, which shall be responsible for drafting and releasing a report on federal cross-agency opportunities to address social determinants of health, including the potential benefits of grants to State, local, or Tribal jurisdictions to address social determinants of health. The Council shall consist of at least one designee from the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Education, the Indian Health Service, HUD, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation, three designees of the Department of Health and Human Services—including CMS—and others as deemed appropriate. Up to six council designees may be non-federal subject matter experts with experience in areas such as implementing and evaluating transformative initiatives that harness data and conduct evaluations to increase the impact and cost-effectiveness of Federal Government Services and represent State, local, and Tribal health and human service agencies, public housing authorities, budget offices, State Medicaid agencies, or national Consumer organizations. The Council shall provide technical assistance to State, local, and tribal jurisdictions seeking to develop Social Determinants Accelerator Plans through a new pilot program under the CDC.