[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5961 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5961

 To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 
  demonstration project to award grants to, and enter into contracts 
with, medical-legal partnerships to assist patients and their families 
          to navigate health-related programs and activities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 29, 2010

Mr. Maffei (for himself, Mr. Murphy of Connecticut, Mr. Braley of Iowa, 
Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Grijalva, and Ms. Sutton) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 
  demonstration project to award grants to, and enter into contracts 
with, medical-legal partnerships to assist patients and their families 
          to navigate health-related programs and activities.

    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 ``Medical-Legal Partnership for Health 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Numerous studies and reports, including the annual 
        National Healthcare Disparities Report and Unequal Treatment, 
        the 2002 Institute of Medicine Report, document the 
        extensiveness to which vulnerable populations suffer from 
        health disparities across the country.
            (2) These studies have found that, on average, racial and 
        ethnic minorities and low-income populations are 
        disproportionately afflicted with chronic and acute conditions 
        such as asthma, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension and suffer 
        worse health outcomes, worse health status, and higher 
        mortality rates.
            (3) Several recent studies also show that health and 
        healthcare quality are a function of not only access to 
        healthcare, but also the social determinants of health, 
        including the environment, the physical structure of 
        communities, socio-economic status, nutrition, educational 
        attainment, employment, race, ethnicity, geography, and 
        language preference, that directly and indirectly affect the 
        health, healthcare, and wellness of individuals and 
        communities.
            (4) Formally integrating medical and legal professionals in 
        the health setting can more effectively address the health 
        needs of vulnerable populations and ultimately reduce health 
        disparities.
            (5) All over the United States, healthcare providers who 
        take care of low-income individuals and families are partnering 
        with legal professionals to assist them in providing better 
        quality of healthcare.
            (6) Medical-legal partnerships integrate lawyers in a 
        health setting to help patients navigate the complex 
        government, legal, and service systems in addressing social 
        determinants of health, such as income supports for food 
        insecure families and mold removal from the home of asthmatics.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) support and advance opportunity for medical-legal 
        partnerships to be more fully integrated in healthcare settings 
        nationwide;
            (2) to improve the quality of care for vulnerable 
        populations by reducing health disparities among health 
        disparities populations and addressing the social determinants 
        of health; and
            (3) identify and develop cost-effective strategies that 
        will improve patient outcomes and realize savings for 
        healthcare systems.

SEC. 3. MEDICAL-LEGAL PARTNERSHIPS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
establish a nationwide demonstration project consisting of--
            (1) awarding grants to, and entering into contracts with, 
        medical-legal partnerships to assist patients and their 
        families to navigate programs and activities; and
            (2) evaluating the effectiveness of such partnerships.
    (b) Technical Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may, directly or through 
        grants or contracts, provide technical assistance to grantees 
        under subsection (a)(1) or through a national organization 
        described in paragraph (2) to support the establishment and 
        sustainability of medical-legal partnerships. Not to exceed 5 
        percent of the amount appropriated to carry out this section in 
        a fiscal year may be used for purposes of this subsection.
            (2) National organization described.--A national 
        organization described in this paragraph is a national 
        organization experienced in bringing together both the medical 
        and legal professions on behalf of vulnerable populations.
    (c) Use of Funds.--Amounts received as a grant or pursuant to a 
contract under this section shall be used to assist patients and their 
families to navigate health-related programs and activities for 
purposes of achieving one or more of the following goals:
            (1) Enhancing access to health care services.
            (2) Improving health outcomes for low-income individuals, 
        as defined in subsection (h).
            (3) Reducing health disparities among health disparities 
        populations.
            (4) Enhancing wellness and prevention of chronic conditions 
        and other health problems.
            (5) Reducing cost of care to the healthcare system.
            (6) Addressing the social determinants of health.
            (7) Addressing situational factors that contribute to poor 
        health, such as poor housing.
    (d) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant or contract 
under this section, an entity shall submit to the Secretary an 
application at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Secretary may require, including information 
demonstrating that the applicant has experience in bridging the medical 
and legal professions or a strategy or plan for cultivating and 
building medical-legal partnerships.
    (e) Matching Requirement.--For each fiscal year, the Secretary may 
not award a grant or contract under this section to an entity unless 
the entity agrees to make available non-Federal contributions (which 
may include in-kind contributions) toward the costs of a grant or 
contract awarded under this section in an amount that is not less than 
$1 for each $10 of Federal funds provided under the grant or contract.
    (f) Prohibition.--No funds under this section may be used--
            (1) for any medical malpractice action or proceeding;
            (2) to provide any State or local public benefit (as 
        defined in section 411(c) of the Personal Responsibility and 
        Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1621(c)) 
        to an alien who is not--
                    (A) a qualified alien (as defined in section 431 of 
                the Immigration and Nationality Act);
                    (B) a nonimmigrant under the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act; or
                    (C) an alien who is paroled into the United States 
                under section 212(d)(5) of such Act for less than one 
                year; or
            (3) to provide legal assistance with respect to any 
        proceeding or litigation which seeks to procure an abortion or 
        to compel any individual or institution to perform an abortion, 
        or assist in the performance of an abortion.
    (g) Reports.--
            (1) Final report by secretary.--Not later than 6 months 
        after the date of the completion of the demonstration project 
        under this section, the Secretary shall conduct a study of the 
        results of the project and submit to the Congress a report on 
        such results that includes the following:
                    (A) An evaluation of the project outcomes, 
                including--
                            (i) a description of the extent to which 
                        medical-legal partnerships funded through this 
                        section achieved the purposes described in 
                        section 2(b);
                            (ii) quantitative and qualitative analysis 
                        of baseline and benchmark measures of the 
                        project's impact as delineated under subsection 
                        (c); and
                            (iii) aggregate information about the 
                        individuals served and project activities.
                    (B) Recommendations on whether the activities 
                funded under this section could be used to improve 
                patient outcomes in other public health areas.
            (2) Interim reports by secretary.--The Secretary may 
        provide interim reports to the Congress on the demonstration 
        project under this section at such intervals as the Secretary 
        determines to be appropriate.
            (3) Reports by grantees.--The Secretary may require each 
        recipient of a grant or contract under this section to submit 
        interim and final reports on the activities carried out by such 
        recipient with such grant.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``health disparities populations'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 485E(d) of the Public Health 
        Service Act.
            (2) The term ``low-income individuals'' refers to the 
        population of individuals and families who earn up to 200 
        percent of the Federal poverty level applicable to the size of 
        the family involved.
            (3) The term ``medical-legal partnership'' means an 
        entity--
                    (A) that is a partnership between--
                            (i) a community health center, public 
                        hospital, children's hospital, or other 
                        provider of health care services to a 
                        significant number of low-income individuals; 
                        and
                            (ii) one or more legal professionals; and
                    (B) whose primary mission is to assist patients and 
                their families navigate health-related programs, 
                activities, and services through the provision of 
                relevant civil legal assistance on-site in the 
                healthcare setting involved, in conjunction with 
                regular training for healthcare staff and providers 
                regarding the connections between legal interventions, 
                social determinants, and health of low-income 
                individuals.
            (4) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services.
    (i) Funding.--
            (1) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may 
        be necessary, but not to exceed $10,000,000, for each of the 
        fiscal years 2011 through 2015.
            (2) Limitation.--Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary may obligate not 
        more than 5 percent for the administrative expenses of the 
        Secretary in carrying out this section.
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