[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8588 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8588
To amend title XX of the Social Security Act to provide grants to
States to support linkages to legal services and medical legal
partnerships.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 31, 2024
Ms. Spanberger (for herself and Mr. Molinaro) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title XX of the Social Security Act to provide grants to
States to support linkages to legal services and medical legal
partnerships.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Linking Seniors to Needed Legal
Services Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. INCENTIVES FOR DEVELOPING AND SUSTAINING STRUCTURAL COMPETENCY
IN PROVIDING HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
(a) In General.--Part II of subtitle B of title XX of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397m-5) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``SEC. 2047. INCENTIVES FOR DEVELOPING AND SUSTAINING STRUCTURAL
COMPETENCY IN PROVIDING HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
``(a) Grants to States To Support Linkages to Legal Services and
Medical Legal Partnerships.--
``(1) In general.--Within 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish and
administer a program of grants to States to support the
adoption of evidence-based approaches to establishing or
improving and maintaining real-time linkages between health and
social services and supports for vulnerable elders or in
conjunction with authorized representatives of vulnerable
elders, including through the following:
``(A) Medical-legal partnerships.--The
establishment and support of medical-legal
partnerships, the incorporation of the partnerships in
the elder justice framework and health and human
services safety net, and the implementation and
operation of such a partnership by an eligible
grantee--
``(i) at the option of a State, in
conjunction with an area agency on aging;
``(ii) in a solo provider practice in a
health professional shortage area (as defined
in section 332(a) of the Public Health Service
Act), a medically underserved community (as
defined in section 399V of such Act), or a
rural area (as defined in section 330J of such
Act);
``(iii) in a minority-serving institution
of higher learning with health, law, and social
services professional programs;
``(iv) in a federally qualified health
center, as described in section 330 of the
Public Health Service Act, or look-alike, as
described in section 1905(l)(2)(B) of this Act;
or
``(v) in certain hospitals that are
critical access hospitals, Medicare-dependent
hospitals, sole community hospitals, rural
emergency hospitals, or that serve a high
proportion of Medicare or Medicaid patients.
``(B) Legal hotlines development or expansion.--The
provision of incentives to develop, enhance, and
integrate platforms, such as legal assistance hotlines,
that help to facilitate the identification of older
adults who could benefit from linkages to available
legal services such as those described in subparagraph
(A).
``(2) State reports.--Each State to which a grant is made
under this subsection shall submit to the Secretary biannual
reports on the activities carried out by the State pursuant to
this subsection, which shall include assessments of the
effectiveness of the activities with respect to--
``(A) the number of unique individuals identified
through the mechanism outlined in paragraph (1)(B) who
are referred to services described in paragraph (1)(A),
and the average time period associated with resolving
issues;
``(B) the success rate for referrals to community-
based resources; and
``(C) other factors determined relevant by the
Secretary.
``(3) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall, by grant, contract,
or interagency agreement, evaluate the activities conducted
pursuant to this subsection, which shall include a comparison
among the States.
``(4) Report to the congress.--Every 4 years, the Secretary
shall submit to the Congress a written report on the activities
conducted under this subsection.
``(5) Appropriation.--Out of any money in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated to the Secretary
$125,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2028 to
carry out this subsection.
``(6) Supplement not supplant.--Support provided to area
agencies on aging, State units on aging, eligible entities, or
other community-based organizations pursuant to this subsection
shall be used to supplement and not supplant any other Federal,
State, or local funds expended to provide the same or
comparable services described in this subsection.
``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Area agency on aging.--The term `area agency on
aging' means an area agency on aging designated under section
305 of the Older Americans Act of 1965.
``(2) Community-based organization.--The term `community-
based organization' includes, except as otherwise provided by
the Secretary, a nonprofit community-based organization, a
consortium of nonprofit community-based organizations, a
national nonprofit organization acting as an intermediary for a
community-based organization, or a community-based organization
that has a fiscal sponsor that allows the organization to
function as an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation
under section 501(a) of such Code.''.
(b) Clarification That Medical-Legal Partnerships Are Authorized
Adult Protective Services Activities.--Section 2011 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 1397j) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)(D), by inserting ``, including through
a medical-legal partnership'' before the period; and
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (16) through (22) as
paragraphs (17) through (23), respectively, and inserting after
paragraph (15) the following:
``(16) Medical-legal partnership.--The term `medical-legal
partnership' means an arrangement in a health care or social
services setting which integrates lawyers and social workers to
address the needs of an individual patient related to social
determinants of health, and to help clinicians, case managers,
and social workers address structural problems at the root of
many health inequities, including a multidisciplinary team
integrated into such a setting to address the needs and
establish and maintain structural competence within clinicians,
case managers, and social workers to best address structural
problems at the root of many health inequities.''.
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