II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 509 

To establish a program to assist States in establishing or enhancing 

community integration network infrastructure for health and social services. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2021 

Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a program to assist States in establishing or 

enhancing community integration network infrastructure 

for health and social services. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Leveraging Integrated 

5 Networks in Communities to Address Social Needs Act of 

6 2021’’ or the ‘‘LINC to Address Social Needs Act of 

7 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO SUPPORT ESTABLISHMENT OR EN2 HANCEMENT OF STATE COMMUNITY INTE3 GRATION NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE. 

4 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall award 

5 grants on a competitive basis to States to support such 

6 States, through public-private partnerships, to establish 

7 new or enhance existing community integration network 

8 infrastructure through authorized activities under sub9 section (b). 

10 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A State shall use a 

11 grant under this section to carry out activities and services 

12 to establish new or enhance existing community integra13 tion network infrastructure, on a statewide basis through 

14 direct network operations or collaborations among mul15 tiple associated entities, which may include such entities 

16 that operate regionally. Such activities and services shall 

17 include— 

18 (1) establishing a new or enhancing an existing 

19 technology platform that— 

20 (A) enables the coordination of public and 

21 private providers and payors of services for in22 dividuals in the State, including services such 

23 as— 

24 (i) nutritional assistance; 

25 (ii) housing; 


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1 (iii) health care, including preventive 

2 health intervention, chronic disease man3 agement, and behavioral health care; 

4 (iv) transportation; 

5 (v) job training; 

6 (vi) child development or care; 

7 (vii) caregiving and respite care; 

8 (viii) disability assistance; and 

9 (ix) other services, as determined by 

10 the State; 

11 (B) prioritizes connectivity with, incorpora12 tion of, and partnership with any appropriate 

13 existing technology platforms developed by pub14 lic or private organizations in the State for the 

15 purposes described in subparagraph (A); and 

16 (C) ensures that— 

17 (i) reasonable measures are taken to 

18 promote connectivity among associated en19 tities; and 

20 (ii) appropriate privacy, security, pro21 tections are in place, in accordance with 

22 applicable Federal and State privacy laws; 

23 (2) connecting associated entities for purposes 

24 of communication, service coordination and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509

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1 sumer assistance, referral and capacity management, 

2 outcome tracking, and related services; 

3 (3) providing technical assistance and sup4 porting associated entities in connecting and partici5 pating in the community integration network infra6 structure; 

7 (4) planning for and implementing actions de8 signed to create sustainable funding models to sup9 port long-term access to community integration net10 work infrastructure; 

11 (5) designing and implementing a financial 

12 structure to make the community integration net13 work infrastructure financially self-sustaining not 

14 later than 3 years after receiving funds under this 

15 section; and 

16 (6) evaluating the use of any funds provided 

17 under this section. 

18 (c) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this Act shall 

20 be awarded under such terms and conditions as the 

21 Secretary shall prescribe, including the guidelines es22 tablished under paragraph (3). 

23 (2) MINIMIZING ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN.— 

24 The Secretary shall seek to minimize the administraVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509

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1 tive burden of such terms and conditions and ensure 

2 programmatic flexibility for unique State needs. 

3 (3) GUIDELINES.—The Secretary shall— 

4 (A) consult relevant stakeholders regarding 

5 basic functionalities, technical capacities, and 

6 data standards needed for community integra7 tion network infrastructure; and 

8 (B) based on such consultations, establish 

9 guidelines for awarding grants under this sec10 tion, including application requirements. 

11 (d) APPLICATION.—A State desiring a grant under 

12 this section shall— 

13 (1) enter into a public-private partnership with 

14 one or more— 

15 (A) private, nonprofit, or philanthropic or16 ganizations; or 

17 (B) Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, or 

18 urban Indian organizations within the State; 

19 and 

20 (2) submit to the Secretary an application at 

21 such time, in such manner, and containing or ac22 companied by such information as the Secretary may 

23 require, including— 

24 (A) a description of the agency or depart25 ment in the State government that will coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509

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1 nate with and oversee the partnership estab2 lished under paragraph (1); 

3 (B) a plan for the establishment or en4 hancement of a community integration network 

5 infrastructure including— 

6 (i) the proposed transparent and com7 petitive process for selecting any new oper8 ational components of the community inte9 gration network infrastructure; 

10 (ii) the planned governance structure 

11 (including representation of different types 

12 of associated entities) within the commu13 nity integration network infrastructure; 

14 (iii) proposed associated entities and 

15 services to be included in the community 

16 integration network infrastructure; and 

17 (iv) a plan for accessing and linking 

18 relevant data to create community integra19 tion network infrastructure, including a de20 scription of intended sources of data; 

21 (C) assurances that the funds awarded 

22 under this section will be used solely carry out 

23 authorized activities as described in subsection 

24 (b) and other related activities; 


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1 (D) potential options, including public-pri2 vate partnerships in addition to the partnership 

3 described in paragraph (1), for making the 

4 community integration network infrastructure 

5 financially self-sustaining not later than 3 years 

6 after receiving funds under this section; and 

7 (E) a description of the objectives and out8 come goals of developing the community inte9 gration network infrastructure, including— 

10 (i) one or more health outcomes; 

11 (ii) one or more other important social 

12 outcomes; 

13 (iii) improved access to health care or 

14 social services; and 

15 (iv) how progress toward the outcomes 

16 described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and 

17 (C) will be measured through internal per18 formance metrics. 

19 (e) SEPARATE TRIBAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—Nothing 

20 in this section shall preclude Indian Tribes, Tribal organi21 zations, or urban Indian organizations from establishing 

22 a community integration network infrastructure that is 

23 separate from any other public-private partnership receiv24 ing funding under this section. 

25 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

2 appropriated to carry out this section $150,000,000 

3 for fiscal year 2022. 

4 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Of the amounts appro5 priated pursuant to paragraph (1), up to $5,000,000 

6 may be used for administrative expenses. 

7 (3) DURATION OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts ap8 propriated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain 

9 available until the date that is 5 years after the date 

10 of enactment of this Act. 

11 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) ASSOCIATED ENTITIES.—The term ‘‘associ13 ated entities’’ means any— 

14 (A) community-based organization that ac15 cepts referrals from health care organizations 

16 and that provides services such as— 

17 (i) nutritional assistance; 

18 (ii) housing; 

19 (iii) health care, including preventive 

20 health intervention, chronic disease man21 agement, and behavioral health care; 

22 (iv) transportation; 

23 (v) job training; 

24 (vi) child development or care; 

25 (vii) caregiving and respite care; and 


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1 (viii) disability assistance; 

2 (B) public, or nonprofit or for-profit, pri3 vate health care provider organization; 

4 (C) public or private funded payor of 

5 health care services, including home- or commu6 nity-based services; 

7 (D) State, local, territorial, or Tribal 

8 health and social services agency; 

9 (E) State public housing authority or 

10 housing finance agency; 

11 (F) public health information exchange or 

12 public health information network, as defined 

13 by the Secretary; or 

14 (G) other similar entity, as designated by 

15 the State. 

16 (2) COMMUNITY INTEGRATION NETWORK IN17 FRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘community integration 

18 network infrastructure’’ means infrastructure, exist19 ing on statewide basis with direct network oper20 ations or through collaborations among multiple as21 sociated entities, used to enable the coordination, 

22 alignment, and connection, of associated entities in 

23 a State, including such entities that operate region24 ally, for purposes of communication, service coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S509.IS S509

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1 nation, and referral management of services, with 

2 respect to services such as— 

3 (A) nutritional assistance; 

4 (B) housing; 

5 (C) health care, including preventive health 

6 intervention, chronic disease management, and 

7 behavioral health care; 

8 (D) transportation; 

9 (E) job training; 

10 (F) child development or care; 

11 (G) caregiving and respite care; 

12 (H) disability assistance; and 

13 (I) other similar services, as designated by 

14 the State. 

15 (3) INDIAN TRIBE AND TRIBAL ORGANIZA16 TION.—The terms ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal orga17 nization’’ have the meanings given to the terms ‘In18 dian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ in section 4 of 

19 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist20 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

21 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ refers 

22 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

23 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 

24 territory, or the District of Columbia. 


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1 (6) URBAN INDIAN ORGANIZATION.—The term 

2 ‘‘urban Indian organization’’ has the meaning given 

3 to the term in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 

4 Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603). 

5 SEC. 3. EVALUATION, REPORT, AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 

6 (a) EVALUATION.—The Comptroller General of the 

7 United States shall conduct an evaluation that— 

8 (1) measures the overall impact of the commu9 nity integration network infrastructure established 

10 or enhanced using funds received under section 2, 

11 with respect to— 

12 (A) changes in individual and population 

13 health outcomes; 

14 (B) changes in access to health care or so15 cial services; 

16 (C) the degree of data sharing using the 

17 community integration network infrastructure 

18 established or enhanced using funds received 

19 under section 2; 

20 (D) the effectiveness of service coordina21 tion; 

22 (E) the cost-effectiveness of the provision 

23 of services; 

24 (F) any results or anticipated results on 

25 overall health and social services spending; 


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1 (G) patient and consumer satisfaction with 

2 service coordination process and services re3 ceived; and 

4 (H) any other relevant factors; and 

5 (2) describes how the funds received under sec6 tion 2 were used. 

7 (b) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later 

8 than 4 years after the date the first grant under this Act 

9 is awarded, the Comptroller General of the United States 

10 shall— 

11 (1)(A) submit a report on the evaluation con12 ducted under subsection (a) to Congress; and 

13 (B) make such report publicly available; and 

14 (2) based on the evaluation conducted under 

15 subsection (a), make recommendations to States and 

16 Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, or urban Indian 

17 organizations, on how to improve and sustain com18 munity integration network infrastructure estab19 lished or enhanced using funds received under sec20 tion 2. 

Æ 


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