S. 3303 — LINC VA Act

This section directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, acting through the Center for Innovation for Care and Payment, to carry out a pilot program, beginning not later than one year after enactment, to establish or enhance an interoperable community integration platform accessible to veterans, VA employees, and others as appropriate. The platform coordinates local support services (e.g., nutritional assistance, housing, health care, transportation, job training, suicide prevention) through governmental and nongovernmental organizations; prioritizes connections to existing networks compliant with federal health IT standards; ensures interoperability, privacy protections, and technical assistance; collects standardized data on veterans' social determinants of health using ICD-10 codes Z55-Z63 and Z75; incorporates such screenings into routine VA care; and offers web-based and alternative access. The pilot program operates at no fewer than five VA medical facilities of varying types (i.e., frontier, under-resourced, and those with existing community coordination efforts). It requires coordination with existing networks and State Medicaid programs, with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue guidance and a §1115 waiver template (42 U.S.C. 1315) for Medicaid integration. The VA must track referral accuracy, provider response times, and initial outcomes; submit a report to Congress three years after first appropriations assessing met and unmet veteran social service needs; and the Comptroller General must evaluate impacts on veteran health outcomes, service access, and related factors.

This section requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to collect information on social determinants of health (i.e., factors such as education, housing, and access to medical services) from veterans enrolled in the VA's annual patient enrollment system as part of routine screenings. Such information must use standardized definitions from ICD-10 diagnostic codes Z55 through Z63 and Z75 (as in effect on enactment) and incorporate measures to quantify the relative severity of identified needs.