I 
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 Representa-
tives 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’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:47 Jul 17, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8588.IH
H8588
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
mentation and operation of such a partnership 
by an eligible grantee— 
‘‘(i) at the option of a State, in con-
junction with an area agency on aging; 
‘‘(ii) in a solo provider practice in a 
health professional shortage area (as de-
fined in section 332(a) of the Public 
Health Service Act), a medically under-
served community (as defined in section 
399V of such Act), or a rural area (as de-
fined in section 330J of such Act); 
‘‘(iii) in a minority-serving institution 
of higher learning with health, law, and so-
cial 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 crit-
ical access hospitals, Medicare-dependent 
hospitals, sole community hospitals, rural 
emergency hospitals, or that serve a high 
proportion of Medicare or Medicaid pa-
tients. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:47 Jul 17, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8588.IH
H8588
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
‘‘(B) LEGAL HOTLINES DEVELOPMENT OR 
EXPANSION.—The provision of incentives to de-
velop, enhance, and integrate platforms, such as 
legal assistance hotlines, that help to facilitate 
the identification of older adults who could ben-
efit 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 car-
ried 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 com-
munity-based resources; and 
‘‘(C) other factors determined relevant by 
the Secretary. 
‘‘(3) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall, by 
grant, contract, or interagency agreement, evaluate 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:47 Jul 17, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8588.IH
H8588
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
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 or-
ganizations 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 Ameri-
cans Act of 1965. 
‘‘(2) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘community-based organization’ includes, ex-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:47 Jul 17, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8588.IH
H8588
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
cept as otherwise provided by the Secretary, a non-
profit community-based organization, a consortium 
of nonprofit community-based organizations, a na-
tional nonprofit organization acting as an inter-
mediary 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 PART-
NERSHIPS ARE AUTHORIZED ADULT PROTECTIVE SERV-
ICES ACTIVITIES.—Section 2011 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
1397j) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)(D), by inserting ‘‘, includ-
ing 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 arrange-
ment 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 deter-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:47 Jul 17, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H8588.IH
H8588
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
minants of health, and to help clinicians, case man-
agers, and social workers address structural prob-
lems at the root of many health inequities, including 
a multidisciplinary team integrated into such a set-
ting to address the needs and establish and maintain 
structural competence within clinicians, case man-
agers, and social workers to best address structural 
problems at the root of many health inequities.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:47 Jul 17, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H8588.IH
H8588
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS