Summary

Creates a national working group inside the Department of Health and Human Services to develop standardized definitions and measurement approaches for loneliness and social isolation, and to issue recommendations and a public report to Congress within one year. The working group must meet at least three times, include senior representatives from multiple HHS agencies plus designated state representatives from selected states, and use defined terms for “isolation” (objective lack of social relationships) and “loneliness” (subjective feeling of being isolated). The mandate is temporary: the working group’s work and reporting deadlines are tied to enactment, and the authority provided by the section expires at the end of calendar year 2027. The Act sets organizational and reporting requirements but does not create new funding or amend other laws.

• Establishes a national Working Group on Unifying Loneliness Research within HHS to produce measurement and definition recommendations.
• Specifies definitions: isolation as objective lack of social contacts; loneliness as a subjective feeling of being isolated.
• Requires senior representatives from multiple HHS agencies plus governor-designated state representatives from six specified states.
• Mandates at least three meetings and a publicly available report to Congress within one year of enactment.
• Does not authorize new funding or change existing law; the provision is organizational and temporary.
• The working group’s authority expires at the end of calendar year 2027.
• One section only sets the Act’s short title and contains no substantive provisions.
• Uses HRSA data (June 30, 2023 report) to select states for governor-designated representatives.