I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7481 

To authorize the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

to carry out a Social Determinants of Health Program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 29, 2024 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. 

CARSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention to carry out a Social Determinants of 

Health Program, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Improving Social De5 terminants of Health Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH PROGRAM. 

7 (a) PROGRAM.—To the extent and in the amounts 

8 made available in advance in appropriations Acts, the DiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Mar 04, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7481.IH H7481

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1 rector of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

2 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall carry out 

3 a program, to be known as the Social Determinants of 

4 Health Program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro5 gram’’), to achieve the following goals: 

6 (1) Improve health outcomes and reduce health 

7 inequities by coordinating social determinants of 

8 health activities across the Centers for Disease Con9 trol and Prevention. 

10 (2) Improve the capacity of public health agen11 cies and community organizations to address social 

12 determinants of health in communities. 

13 (b) ACTIVITIES.—To achieve the goals listed in sub14 section (a), the Director shall carry out activities including 

15 the following: 

16 (1) Coordinating across the Centers for Disease 

17 Control and Prevention to ensure that relevant pro18 grams consider and incorporate social determinants 

19 of health in grant awards and other activities. 

20 (2) Awarding grants under section 3 to State, 

21 local, territorial, and Tribal health agencies and or22 ganizations, and to other eligible entities, to address 

23 social determinants of health in target communities. 


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1 (3) Awarding grants under section 4 to non2 profit organizations and public or other nonprofit in3 stitutions of higher education— 

4 (A) to conduct research on best practices 

5 to improve social determinants of health; 

6 (B) to provide technical assistance, train7 ing, and evaluation assistance to grantees under 

8 section 3; and 

9 (C) to disseminate best practices to grant10 ees under section 3. 

11 (4) Coordinating, supporting, and aligning ac12 tivities of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre13 vention related to social determinants of health with 

14 activities of other Federal agencies related to social 

15 determinants of health, including such activities of 

16 agencies in the Department of Health and Human 

17 Services such as the Centers for Medicare & Med18 icaid Services. 

19 (5) Collecting and analyzing data related to the 

20 social determinants of health. 

21 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO ADDRESS SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF 

22 HEALTH. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, as part of the Pro24 gram, shall award grants to eligible entities to address so25 cial determinants of health in their communities. 


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1 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to apply for a grant 

2 under this section, an entity shall be— 

3 (1) a State, local, territorial, or Tribal health 

4 agency or organization; 

5 (2) a qualified nongovernmental entity, as de6 fined by the Director; or 

7 (3) a consortium of entities that includes a 

8 State, local, territorial, or Tribal health agency or 

9 organization. 

10 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section 

12 shall be used to address social determinants of 

13 health in a target community by designing, imple14 menting, and evaluating innovative, evidence-based, 

15 cross-sector strategies. 

16 (2) TARGET COMMUNITY.—For purposes of this 

17 section, a target community shall be a State, county, 

18 city, or other municipality. 

19 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec20 tion, the Director shall prioritize applicants proposing to 

21 serve target communities with significant unmet health 

22 and social needs, as defined by the Director. 

23 (e) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec24 tion, an eligible entity shall— 


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1 (1) submit an application at such time, in such 

2 manner, and containing such information as the Di3 rector may require; 

4 (2) propose a set of activities to address social 

5 determinants of health through evidence-based, 

6 cross-sector strategies, which activities may in7 clude— 

8 (A) collecting quantifiable data from health 

9 care, social services, and other entities regard10 ing the most significant gaps in health-pro11 moting social, economic, and environmental 

12 needs; 

13 (B) identifying evidence-based approaches 

14 to meeting the nonmedical, social needs of pop15 ulations identified by data collection described 

16 in subparagraph (A), such as unstable housing 

17 or food insecurity; 

18 (C) developing scalable methods to meet 

19 patients’ social needs identified in clinical set20 tings or other sites; 

21 (D) convening entities such as local and 

22 State governmental and nongovernmental orga23 nizations, health systems, payors, and commu24 nity-based organizations to review, plan, and 

25 implement community-wide interventions and 


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1 strategies to advance health-promoting social 

2 conditions; 

3 (E) monitoring and evaluating the impact 

4 of activities funded through the grant on the 

5 health and well-being of the residents of the 

6 target community and on the cost of health 

7 care; and 

8 (F) such other activities as may be speci9 fied by the Director; 

10 (3) demonstrate how the eligible entity will col11 laborate with— 

12 (A) health systems; 

13 (B) payors, including, as appropriate, med14 icaid managed care organizations (as defined in 

15 section 1903(m)(1)(A) of the Social Security 

16 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(m)(1)(A))), Medicare 

17 Advantage plans under part C of title XVIII of 

18 such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–21 et seq.), and 

19 health insurance issuers and group health plans 

20 (as such terms are defined in section 2791 of 

21 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 300gg–91)); 

23 (C) other relevant stakeholders and initia24 tives in areas of need, such as the Accountable 

25 Health Communities Model of the Centers for 


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1 Medicare & Medicaid Services, health homes 

2 under the Medicaid program under title XIX of 

3 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 

4 seq.), community-based organizations, and 

5 human services organizations; 

6 (D) other non-health care sector organiza7 tions, including organizations focusing on trans8 portation, housing, or food access; and 

9 (E) local employers; and 

10 (4) identify key health inequities in the target 

11 community and demonstrate how the proposed ef12 forts of the eligible entity would address such inequi13 ties. 

14 (f) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—As a condition 

15 of receipt of a grant under this section, a grantee shall 

16 agree to submit an annual report to the Director describ17 ing the activities carried out through the grant and the 

18 outcomes of such activities. 

19 (g) INDEPENDENT NATIONAL EVALUATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after 

21 the first grants are awarded under this section, the 

22 Director shall provide for the commencement of an 

23 independent national evaluation of the program 

24 under this section. 


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1 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 

2 days after receiving the results of such independent 

3 national evaluation, the Director shall report such 

4 results to the Congress. 

5 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND TRAINING. 

6 The Director, as part of the Program— 

7 (1) shall award grants to nonprofit organiza8 tions and public or other nonprofit institutions of 

9 higher education— 

10 (A) to conduct research on best practices 

11 to improve social determinants of health; 

12 (B) to provide technical assistance, train13 ing, and evaluation assistance to grantees under 

14 section 3; and 

15 (C) to disseminate best practices to grant16 ees under section 3; and 

17 (2) may require a grantee under paragraph (1) 

18 to provide technical assistance and capacity building 

19 to entities that are eligible entities under section 3 

20 but not receiving funds through such section. 

21 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro23 priated to carry out this Act, $100,000,000 for each of 

24 fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 


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1 (b) ALLOCATION.—Of the amount made available to 

2 carry out this Act for a fiscal year, not less than 75 per3 cent shall be used for grants under sections 3 and 4. 

Æ 


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