,i  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fbhd  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,november #h1        
#bjbc,mr4 ,flood 7for himself and ,mr4  
,trone7 introduced the following bill2  
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,energy and ,commerce  ,a ,,bill  ,to   
direct the ,secretary of ,health and    
,human ,services to establish a working 
group to formulate recommendations for  
standardizing the measurements of       
loneliness and isolation1 and for other 
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,improving          
,measurements for ,loneliness and       
,isolation ,act of #bjbc4  #b4 ,working 
,group on ,unifying ,loneliness         
,research  7a7 ,definitions ,in this    
section3 7#a7 ,the term isolation means 
the objective lack of social            
relationships or limited social contact 
with others4  7#b7 ,the term loneliness 
means a subjective feeling of being     
isolated4  7b7 ,establishment ,the      
,secretary of ,health and ,human        

,services 7in this section referred to  
as the ,secretary7 shall establish a    
national working group1 to be known as  
the ,working ,group on ,unifying        
,loneliness ,research 7in this section  
referred to as the ,working ,group71 to 
formulate recommendations for           
standardizing the measurements of       
loneliness and isolation4  7c7 ,goals   
,the goals of the recommendations under 
subsection 7b7 shall be the following3  
7#a7 ,collaboration1 cooperation1 and   
consultation among ,federal departments 
and agencies with respect to developing 
standardized measurements of loneliness 
and isolation for the purposes of-- 7,a7
 having standardized measurements for   
use in public and private research1     
including surveys across varying        
populations1 with the ability to capture
 the level of granularity needed to     
guide strategic decision making1        
planning1 and evaluation of strategies  
to combat loneliness and isolation2 and 
7,b7 providing reliable1 consistent     

measurement tools for use across fields 
and industries in health care4  7#b7    
,collaboration1 cooperation1 and        
consultation among ,federal departments 
and agencies with respect to developing 
standardized definitions of loneliness1 
isolation1 and relevant terms associated
 with loneliness and isolation for the  
purposes of education1 awareness1 and   
understanding of the terms for the      
general public4  7#c7 ,assessment of the
 alignment of previous methods of       
measuring loneliness and isolation in   
the public and private sectors4  7d7    
,composition ,the ,working ,group shall 
be composed of-- 7#a7 senior-level      
representatives of-- 7,a7 the           
,department of ,health and ,human       
,services2  7,b7 the ,centers for       
,medicare  ,medicaid ,services2  7,c7   
the ,centers for ,disease ,control and  
,prevention2  7,d7 the ,administration  
for ,community ,living2  7,e7 the       
,national ,institutes of ,health2  7,f7 
the ,substance ,abuse and ,mental       

,health ,services ,administration2  7,g7
 the ,health ,resources and ,services   
,administration2  7,h7 the ,agency for  
,healthcare ,research and ,quality2 and 
7,i7 other agencies1 groups1 subject    
matter experts1 or researchers the      
,secretary deems beneficial to be       
represented in the ,working ,group      
consistent with the goals specified in  
subsection 7c72  7#b7 #a representative 
of each of the three ,states with the   
highest numbers of practitioners needed 
to remove the designations of all mental
 health care health professional        
shortage areas in the respective ,state 
7as reflected in the report of the      
,health ,resources and ,services        
,administration titled ,designated      
,health ,professional ,shortage ,areas  
,statistics 7,june #cj1 #bjbc771 with   
each such representative designated by  
the ,governor of the respective ,state2 
and  7#c7 #a representative of the each 
of the three ,states with the lowest    
numbers of practitioners needed to      

remove such designations1 with each such
 representative designated by the       
,governor of the respective ,state4  7e7
 ,report to ,congress  7#a7 ,in general 
,not later than one year after the date 
of enactment of this ,act1 the ,working 
,group shall-- 7,a7 submit to the       
committees listed in paragraph 7#c7 a   
report describing the work and          
recommendations of the ,working ,group2 
and  7,b7 make such report publicly     
available on the internet4  7#b7        
,meetings ,the ,working ,group shall    
meet not less than #c times in the      
course of developing its report4  7#c7  
,committees ,the committees referred to 
in paragraph 7#a77;,a7 are the          
following3 7,a7 ,the ,committee on      
,education and the ,workforce of the    
,house of ,representatives4  7,b7 ,the  
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce of  
the ,house of ,representatives4  7,c7   
,the ,committee on ,ways and ,means of  
the ,house of ,representatives4  7,d7   
,the ,committee on ,finance of the      

,senate4  7,e7 ,the ,committee on       
,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and        
,pensions of the ,senate4  7f7          
,definition ,in this section1 the term  
,state means the #ej ,states4  7g7      
,sunset ,this section shall cease to be 
effective at the end of calendar year   
#bjbf4