January 2010

In this Issue:

New Resources

NEW MEDIA:

Kaiser Family Foundation has a new webcast, Today’s Topics in Health Disparities: What Might Health Reform Mean for Women of Color?, which examines aspects of the current Senate and House health reform bills that affect women of color. Women of color face additional health and access challenges: They have higher rates of many diseases, less access to the health care system, and fewer resources to pay for care.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is currently accepting comments on its National Plan for Action. The National Plan for Action will propose strategies for addressing health disparities and promoting health equity. OMH will allow individuals to comment on specific chapters of the report or the report as a whole, and the comments will be used to develop the final plan. The deadline for submitting comments is February 12, 2010.
DiversityRx’s conference planning committee is currently accepting presentation proposals for their 2010 conference, Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations. The conference will be in Baltimore, Maryland from October 18 – 21, 2010. The committee encourages advocates, policymakers, health care professionals, community representatives, and researchers to submit a proposal on health disparities related topics. The deadline for submitting proposals is February 1, 2010. For more information on the conference and proposal submissions, click here.

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

Families USA: Wellstone Fellowship for Social Justice is designed to foster the advancement of social justice through participation in health care advocacy work that focuses on the unique challenges facing many communities of color. The Fellow will work to address disparities in access to care. Applications must be submitted by February 5, 2010. For more information, click here.
Disparities Leadership Program is jointly sponsored by the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and National Committee for Quality Assurance, is now accepting applications. The Disparities Leadership Program is a year-long executive education program designed for leaders from hospitals, health plans, and other health care organizations who want to develop a strategic plan or advance a project to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care, particularly through quality improvement. Click here to apply for the Disparities Leadership Program.

PUBLICATIONS:

Center for American Progress published Equal Health Care for All: Opportunities to Address Health Care Disparities in Health Care Reform, which looks at disparities in health care access and quality based on factors such as race and ethnicity, and analyzes the initiatives in the current federal health reform proposals that will address these factors and help eliminate such disparities.
Kaiser Family Foundation released a new report, Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Access to Care among Children: How Does Medicaid Do in Closing the Gaps?, which examines how disparities among children in Medicaid compare with those among privately insured and uninsured children. The findings reveal that disparities in Medicaid were similar to those in the private insurance market, and although the majority of children fare well in terms of access, problems still persist for children trying to get access to the health care they need.
Kaiser Family Foundation recently released Immigrants’ Health Coverage and Health Reform: Key Questions and Answers, which provides an overview of key questions related to immigrants' health coverage and health reform. The issue brief addresses subjects such as how immigrants receive health coverage, how many of the uninsured are non-citizen immigrants and what would happen to coverage for non-citizen immigrants under current health reform proposals.
Massachusetts Medical Society published Leveling the Field—Ensuring Equity through National Health Care Reform, which discusses both the challenges of and opportunities for equity in health reform implementation. The authors examine how health care reform might affect the quality of care offered to newly insured people of color. The article provides recommendations for measuring and improving the quality of care given to minorities.
American Public Health Association published Combining Explicit and Implicit Measure of Racial Discrimination in Health Research. The aim of this study was to improve measurement of discrimination for health research. The results of this study suggest that research on racism and health would be improved by investigating how awareness of having experienced discrimination influences mental health.
National Council of La Raza recently released an issue brief, Evaluation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which provides recommendations for the Senate proposal to improve access to and quality and affordability of health care for immigrant families. National Council of La Raza also published U.S. Citizen and Immigrant Treatment Chart for “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” which is a chart that provided information on immigrant and citizen eligibility in the Senate health care reform proposal.
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network produced a new factsheet, National Health Reform Proposals Hold Promise for California’s Communities of Color, which examines how California’s communities of color will benefit from health care reform proposals. The factsheet looks at how racial and ethnic minorities will benefit from coverage through a Medicaid expansion and the health insurance Exchange.

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Indiana Minority Health Coalition (IMHC) is a nonprofit organization that seeks to eliminate health inequities in preventable health conditions among racial and ethnic minorities. IMHC was created in 1992 by local coalitions united in an effort to address the disparities that exist between minority and white populations. IMHC’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for racial and ethnic minorities through education, advocacy, and quality health care services. IMHC also conducts research and training, develops policy, and creates and maintains a broad-based network of affiliate agencies.

IMHC provides various programs to reduce health disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minorities by increasing access to needed healthcare and improving health literacy. The programs are primarily focused on reducing rates of infant mortality, reducing prevalence of persons who are overweight or obese, eliminating disparities in chronic disease, and reducing HIV and AIDS among communities of color. These programs provide skill building and training as well as educational materials and resources to the community.

Through their partnerships with the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus, other members of the Indiana General Assembly, and state and community members, IMHC is able to influence state and local level public policy. IMHC monitors and evaluates policies that affect the health of Indiana’s communities of color and provides advocacy services to constituents. IMHC also serves as a resource for health data and statistics, health information, technical assistance, and trainings.

For more information on Indiana Minority Health Coalition, please contact Carl Ellison at c.ellison@imhc.org.

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Policy Updates

Health Care Reform Update

On Christmas Eve, the Senate passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by a vote of 60-39. The Senate proposal, like the House proposal, includes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), which would appropriate funds to support health care programs in the American Indian and Alaskan Native community. IHCIA also establishes objectives for addressing health disparities and updates and modernizes the health care delivery system to Indians. The Senate bill seeks to reduce disparities by improving data collection by race and ethnicity and strengthening language access and services. The bill also expands Medicaid to 133 percent of poverty, covering more low-income individuals.

The historic vote moves health care legislation forward. Members of the House and Senate chambers have already begun negotiations for merging their respective versions of the legislation, reconciling any differences. If the merged bill passes the final vote in both chambers, it will be sent to President Obama to sign into law.

Upcoming Events

Families USA: Health Action 2010—Minority Health Track
January 28 – 30, 2010
Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001
Sponsor: Families USA
For more information and to register click here.
4th Biannual Tribal Consultation Session
January 26 – 28, 2010
Roybal Campus, Building 19, Room B3, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30329
Sponsor: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
For more information and to register click here.
The Edward R. Roybal Legacy Gala
February 10, 2010
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004
Sponsor: National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
For more information and to register click here.
Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts
March 12 – 19, 2010
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 810 Mount Vernon Place, NW, Washington, DC 20001
Sponsor: EPA, CDC, NIH, Johns Hopkins University, and the American Public Health Association
For more information and to register click here.
NHMA 14th Annual Conference: Health Care Transformation to Expand Prevention and Health Promotion for Hispanic Communities
March 25 – 28, 2010
Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Rd., NW, Washington, DC 20008
Sponsor: National Hispanic Medical Association
For more information and to register click here.

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: minorityhealth@familiesusa.org.

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