December 2011
In this Issue
NEW MEDIA:
FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
- The Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy aims to prepare physicians for leadership roles in advancing health policies and practices that improve access to high-quality care at the national, state, and/or local levels for the minority, disadvantaged, and other vulnerable populations. The fellow will pursue a master of public health degree from the Harvard University School of Public Health while receiving a $50,000 stipend, full tuition, health insurance, books, travel, and related program expenses, including financial assistance for a practicum project. Up to five one-year, degree-granting fellowships will be awarded for the 2012-2013 year. Applications are due January 4, 2012. For more information and to apply, click here.
- The Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital is now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 Disparities Leadership Program (DLP). This year-long executive education program is designed for leaders from hospitals, health plans, and other health care organizations who wish to implement practical strategies to identify and address racial and ethnic disparities in health care, particularly through quality improvement. Applications are due February 24, 2012. To download application materials or for more information, please visit the Disparities Solutions Center website here or contact Aswita Tan-McGrory at atanmcgrory@partners.org.
PUBLICATIONS:
- Families USA released Simplifying Enrollment and Eligibility with Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI), which explains the benefits of aligning income calculation rules in Medicaid, CHIP, premium tax credits, and Basic Health programs (where applicable) through MAGI.
- Families USA also developed States Making Progress on Rate Review, a report that highlights state efforts to protect consumers from unreasonable increases in insurance premiums. It also explains provisions of the Affordable Care Act that encourage improvements to states' rate review processes.
- The National Council of La Raza produced ¿A Dónde Vamos?, a report that provides an extensive analysis of the growing HIV/AIDS crisis among Latino subgroups in the U.S. and offers an analysis of the Hispanic HIV/AIDS crisis that includes social, cultural, and structural-environmental factors. The report concludes with recommendations for the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS through community-based research and direct service in the Hispanic community.
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Legislative Update
Super Committee Fails to Reach Agreement
The super committee failed to reach an agreement on how to deal with the national deficit by its due date, November 23. Members of each party were quick to fault the other for refusing to negotiate, but the Republicans’ refusal to include substantial revenue as part of the package and the Democrats’ insistence upon doing so led to the committee’s unraveling.
While the resulting trigger mechanism means that $1.2 trillion will be cut from defense and discretionary spending in 2013, some members are aiming to alter the process and make cuts to Medicaid instead. President Obama has vowed to veto any such action. While Medicaid and Medicare escaped cuts initially, Republicans continue to talk about restructuring the trigger to cut these and other health programs. It is vital that you continue to advocate for consumers and these programs as deficit reduction talks continue.
HHS Updates
States Receive More Flexibility and Resources for Exchange Implementation
On November 18, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded nearly $220 million in Affordable Insurance Exchange grants to 13 states to help them create exchanges, giving these states more flexibility and resources to implement the Affordable Care Act. More than half of the states are now creating marketplaces to help millions of families and small businesses buy insurance. HHS also released Frequently Asked Questions about how to set up marketplaces in the states. Critical among these questions is a discussion about how states that run exchanges have more options when it comes to determining eligibility for tax credits and Medicaid than originally proposed. In addition, states will have more time to apply for “Level One” exchange grants. To read the FAQs click here. For more information on the states receiving grants, click here.
New Steps Announced to Promote Health IT Use
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a report showing that doctors’ adoption of health information technology (IT) doubled in two years. HHS also has new plans to speed the use of health IT in doctors’ offices and hospitals, which will improve health care and create jobs nationwide. In addition to improving the health care system, data indicate that the national transition to health IT is creating jobs. More than 50,000 health IT-related jobs have been created since the enactment of the HITECH Act. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of health IT jobs across the country is expected to increase by 20 percent from 2008 to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations through 2018. For more information on how health IT can lead to safer, better, and more efficient care, and for a fact sheet about this announcement, click here.
School-Based Health Centers Receive Grant to Expand Services and Improve Access
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more than $14 million was awarded to 45 school-based health centers across the country allowing the number of children served to increase by nearly 50 percent, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on December 9. Clinics receiving the awards are already providing much-needed health care services to 112,000 children. This infusion of new money will enable them to expand their capacity and modernize their facilities, which will allow them to treat an estimated additional 53,000 children in 29 states. To see a full list of the grantees, click here. To learn more about School-Based Health Centers, click here.
Health Justice CT: Engaging the Public and Educating around Disparities
It’s vitally important to educate the public about health disparities if anything is to be done about them. Health Justice CT aims to do just that in Connecticut. Through targeted social media and blogging efforts, the project seeks to engage the public in meaningful conversations about inequities in health, focusing especially on an audience who is completely unaware of them.
The Health Justice CT project is managed by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR), a nonprofit that specializes in new media research and applications, and is funded by the Connecticut Health Foundation. The project came out of a request from the Connecticut Health Foundation to create an online community for the discussion of racial disparities in health and to generate public interest in the topic. Health Justice CT plays a unique role in the fight against health disparities as their chief purpose is to reach and win over those who aren’t already aligned with the movement to promote health equity.
Through their advocacy endeavors, the project’s leaders have grown to understand the need to carefully craft and frame their messaging to the target audience they wish to reach. For Health Justice CT, this means straying from what some consider the conventional message about disparities. Program Manager Heang Tan Kim emphasizes that—as a project that aims to build public interest in tackling health disparities—Health Justice CT has to frame its messaging differently in order to reach those who truly need education about the problem. In Connecticut, she has found that talking about disparities without directly emphasizing questions of race and ethnicity resonates more strongly with those uninformed about the health equity problem in the country.
Another facet of this unconventional approach to disparities work is that the project’s blog incorporates a variety of voices. The weekly blog features six different contributors, each writing about health equity from a different perspective. These authors’ outlooks reflect a range of political and disciplinary backgrounds, effectively broadening the appeal of the blog to a larger audience. Although the views expressed by each may not always be philosophically compatible, each contributor elevates the discussion of health disparities and in effect raises awareness of the issue.
Though Health Justice CT primarily works through its blog, the project also makes an effort to engage and educate the public through Facebook and Twitter. Rather than just disseminating information through these media, the project aims to go deeper by engaging folks in conversations online. Through social media, the project has targeted students, who tend to be both tech-savvy and receptive to learning about disparities when the topic is framed appropriately.
The leaders of Health Justice CT emphasize the need for innovation in approaching the disparities problem. While their nuanced messaging strategy illustrates that idea, their other tactics also embrace it. The project has launched the Health Justice CT Challenge, soliciting applications for an innovative solution to addressing disparities, with $10,000 as the award. The interesting catch is that applicants must use social media to submit a 3-minute video application, as well as a written proposal using a limited number of characters. The goal of the process is to solicit new, unconventional ideas from individuals or organizations that would not traditionally receive funding. At the end of the day, the result will be that the Challenge rewards ideas from non-traditional partners. The application period is open until January 31, 2012.
Health Justice CT prides itself on looking beyond the conventional to work toward a solution to health inequities. When seeking out those who truly need the education, the group must frame disparities in an innovative way so they don’t fall flat with their audience. Although the project’s goals are large, its tactics will go a long way toward addressing health equity in Connecticut.
For more information, please contact Heang Kim Tan at heang@healthjusticect.org.
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- Health Action Conference
January 19 - 21, 2012
Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001
Sponsor: Families USA
For more information and to register, click here.
- 33rd Annual Minority Health Conference—Translational Research: The Road from Efficacy to Equity
February 24, 2012
The William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education, 100 Friday Center Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Sponsor: Minority Student Caucus, Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill
For more information and to register, click here.
- 5th Annual Health Disparities Conference: Achieving Health Equity through Access, Advocacy, Treatment, and Policy Development
March 6-8, 2012
Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, 500 Canal St New Orleans, LA 70130
Sponsor: Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy's Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education
For more information and to register, click here.
Requests for Local Publications
Here
at Families USA, we believe that public education is essential to
gaining support for health reform. We are asking that you help us in our
efforts to educate the public about the benefits of the Affordable Care
Act by informing us of local, state, and even national newspapers that
serve your community. We are especially interested in outlets that reach
various racial and ethnic groups and senior citizens. If you have any
questions or would like to submit publications, please contact the Health Equity Department at Families USA at healthequity@familiesusa.org.
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We’d like to hear from you!
If you would like to see your organization or event
highlighted in a future edition of our newsletter, please send us a
brief description of your organization and its activities, as well as
your contact information. We also welcome guest authors for
the Activities in the Field section of the newsletter. This section
provides members of the minority health field with the opportunity to
share their experiences and insights with other advocates. Please send
all correspondence to: healthequity@familiesusa.org.
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