The new bill includes $3 million in funding to establish a social determinants of health (SDoH) pilot program.
Congress approved legislation last week for Fiscal Year 2021 Appropriations to provide COVID-19 relief, health care extenders, and other provisions. The legislative package also aims to address SDoH, including key provisions from the 2019 Social Determinants Accelerator Act, according to a press release from Aligning Health. The bill will provide funding to create a SDoH pilot program.
Guidelines for the SDoH pilot program include:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will receive $3 million in funding to establish a SDoH pilot program to award competitive grants to state, local, territorial, or Tribal governments in support of SDoH Accelerator Plans.
- SDoH Accelerator Plans should include a description of the health and social outcome objectives of the plan, identify target populations that would benefit from the plan, and identify non-governmental public health organizations and community organizations that would participate in the plan.
- Grantees may use a portion of funding to convene government entities and stakeholders and to engage qualified research experts to develop a Social Determinants Accelerator Plan.
- The CDC will have 120 days to submit a report on how the grants will be administered.