Registration Now Open for the 2024 TRCC National Summit
Registration is now open for the 2024 National Summit on the Social Drivers of Health, held October 6-8 in Baltimore, Maryland. Our goal at the National Summit is to facilitate collaboration between and highlight the incredible work being done across the country by every type of organization working to achieve health equity.  As such, the agenda reflects the cross-sector nature of our work and focuses on demonstrable, scalable, innovative ideas and programs and discussions with national health equity experts. Don’t miss out on early bird registration rates starting at $695 for members (beyond member-only complimentary registrations) and $795 for non-members, including access to all sessions, meals and special features of the Summit. TRCC members' primary contacts had been sent an e-mail from Molly Melnick, TRCC Member Relations Coordinator, last week with instructions on how to redeem their organizations' complimentary registrations as a benefit of TRCC membership. 

TRCC News

The Coalition Announces Impact Award Winners
TRCC is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 TRCC Impact Award! This esteemed award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to health equity through their work in elected or career government service. The recipients exemplify the core values of TRCC, demonstrating a deep commitment to SDoH, visionary policy leadership, equity-driven advocacy, and a collaborative spirit. Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the 2024 TRCC Impact Award: Senator Alex Padilla, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Representative Robin Kelly, Representative Michelle Steel and Garrett Devenney, HRSA Chief of Staff. The recipients were recognized during the TRCC Advocacy Day on May 15, 2024. Click here to read the full news release.

TRCC Member Highlight

Member Spotlight: The Alliance to End Hunger Releases 2023 Annual Report
The Alliance to End Hunger’s recently released Annual Report reveals that the US faced a higher rise in hunger in 2023 than had been seen in 15 years, with social drivers such as climate change and conflict being named as the largest drivers of food insecurity. The Alliance to End Hunger worked to combat these challenges, through advocacy, congressional meetings, briefings, building and strengthening key partnerships, and the continued evolution and expansion of The Alliance’s Hunger Free Communities Network. The organization made significant strides in pushing for policies that reduced hunger and malnutrition in the U.S. and abroad, including securing over $9 billion to support humanitarian, food security, and resilience needs, making the fruit and vegetable benefit increase a permanent part of the WIC food package and successfully advocating for an additional $1 billion commitment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to combat global hunger and malnutrition. To read the full report, click here.

Interested in learning more about membership and engagement with The Root Cause Coalition and how your organization can join our work toward health equity for all? Please reach out to Molly Melnick, Member Relations Coordinator at mmelnick@rootcausecoalition.org

Social Determinants in the News

Food Is Medicine– Now, Recognize it as “Primarily Health-Related”
Nearly 50% of Medicare Advantage (MA) members face unmet social health needs like food insecurity despite many clinicians' support for coverage of healthy food which significantly impacts health outcomes. While the Center for Medicaid Services, (CMS) incentivizes screening for social determinants of health, it has not effectively integrated food benefits into MA plans. In this article, two actions are proposed to remedy this: clarifying that patients with chronic conditions and SDoH qualify for Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI) and defining healthy food as a "primarily health-related" benefit. Implementing these suggestions would ensure better access to necessary food for patients, aligning with the "food is medicine" approach.

Inside One County’s Decades Long Fight to Close Maternal Health Disparities
This article follows the story of a woman named Love, who in 2020, moved back to Greensboro, NC during her first pregnancy only to face significant challenges navigating the local healthcare system due to insurance issues. Despite her job’s high-deductible plan, she struggled with minimal, inconsistent, and expensive maternal care – common issues among maternal health care especially for women of color. Despite progress, Black and Hispanic populations still face high infant mortality rates and insufficient coverage. The Guilford County Health Department informed her about the Adopt-A-Mom program, which works to address gaps in prenatal care, covers medical costs for those who are ineligible for Medicaid, and creates contracts with local OBGYNs to provide discounted services, significantly improving care quality. Love's experience highlights the importance of supportive programs like Adopt-A-Mom, which offer financial aid and coordinated care, helping women achieve healthy pregnancies and births.

NLIHC, NHLP, and TUF Release National Tenants Bill of Rights, a Practical Policy Agenda for Renters
The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), National Housing Law Project (NHLP), and Tenant Union Federation (TUF) have introduced the National Tenants Bill of Rights, aiming to enhance and enforce renters' rights for 114 million Americans. This comprehensive policy agenda, informed by tenants and housing justice advocates, proposes fundamental protections to address the worsening housing crisis, marked by increasing rent burdens, evictions, and homelessness. The Bill of Rights includes a fair application process, fair leases, freedom from discrimination, habitable homes, reasonable rents, the right to organize, and eviction safeguards, seeking to counter the discriminatory housing system and the power imbalance favoring landlords and institutional investors. Read the full text of the document click here.

2024 Prenatal-to-3 Legislative Highlights
In this article, the Prenatal-to-3 Impact Center reviews 2024 state policy actions supporting children and families. This year, lawmakers nationwide debated and passed legislation focusing on four key components of the prenatal-to-3 system of care. For childcare, 26 states introduced, and 8 enacted, bills to expand subsidy eligibility, create dedicated funding, or establish cost-sharing programs. For state tax credits, 27 states introduced, and 4 enacted, bills to establish new child tax credits or expand existing tax credits. For paid family and medical leave, 34 states introduced, and 6 enacted, bills to create new programs, modify existing ones, or expand leave for state and public-school employees. And finally, for community-based doulas, at least 18 states introduced, and 6 enacted, bills for Medicaid or private insurance coverage of doula services and to ensure doula involvement in policy making.

SDoH Advocacy Update

TRCC’s Equity Legislation Monitor for 118th Congress
TRCC’s Equity Legislation Monitor (ELM) was developed by TRCC to identify priority issues affecting health disparities and relevant legislation that address them. The ELM provides updates and pertinent information on research, news and legislation in eight priority areas: digital equity; environment and climate change; gun violence prevention; housing; maternal health; nutrition and food security; rural health and payment models.

HHS Authorizes Five States to Provide Health Care Coverage for People Transitioning out of Incarceration
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), recently approved additional Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) demonstrations that allow Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, Utah, and Vermont to provide coverage for people transitioning out of incarceration before release, creating a more seamless transition and avoiding gaps in coverage. These states join California, Massachusetts, Montana, and Washington in expanding access to high-quality, affordable health care for a population with disproportionately high rates of substance use disorder, opioid overdose and overdose deaths, serious mental illness, and infectious and other chronic physical health conditions. To learn more about the Medicaid Reentry Section 1115 Demonstration Opportunity, click here.

OCCHE Releases July Health Outlook
The Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE) has released its July 2024 Climate and Health Outlook to inform health professionals and the public on how their health may be affected by climate events and provide resources to take proactive action. This edition provides forecasts for heat, drought, and wildfire in July 2024 as well as how to protect yourself and others’ health from these climate hazards along with tornadoes, flooding, and hurricanes. OCCHE and the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) also launched the Climate and Health Outlook Portal to accompany this publication series. This tool features interactive maps with county-level heat, wildfire, and drought forecasts for the current month along with county-level data on individual risk factors that may affect health outcomes.

H.R. 8904 - Tenant Empowerment Act of 2024
This bill was introduced by Representative Ayanna Pressley [D-MA] to strengthen Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) tenant protections and provide renters with the tools necessary to improve the quality of their homes. The bill would allow tenants living in project-based voucher housing to hold their rent payments in escrow if HUD determines a unit is in serious violation of safe housing standards. It would provide tenants with the right to judicial enforcement of project owner agreements with HUD to ensure they address serious violations of housing standards or repeated violations of other program requirements that threaten the health and well-being of tenants. The bill would also establish a grant program for nonprofit organizations working to provide capacity building or technical assistance services to tenant groups. Additionally, it would also provide tenants with the right to access building information, such as management reviews, physical inspection reports, and capital needs assessments, and would allow for tenant organizations to participate in physical inspections and management review processes. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

S.4613 - Elder Pride Act
This bill was introduced by Senator Ed Markey [D-MA] to support LGBTQI+ older adults and older adults living with HIV. The legislation would establish an Office of LGBTQI Inclusion within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to advocate, coordinate activities, recommend policies for, and collect data on LGBTQI+ older adults. The bill would also establish a rural grants program to serve the unique needs of rural LGBTQI+ older adults. Grant funding could be used for community outreach to reduce isolation and improve access to care for LGBTQI older individuals, or older individuals of a protected class, residing in rural areas. It could also be used to foster relationships between local service providers and LGBTQI older individuals by offering cultural competency training and other resources on health and aging for senior service providers. The bill was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.