October 2010

In this Issue:

•  New Resources  
• New Media   
• Publications
   
• Policy Updates
  
  
• Activities in the Field
   
• Upcoming Events
 

New Resources

NEW MEDIA:

• The White House developed a video and a blog, both titled What Health Reform Means for African Americans, to illustrate how heath reform directly benefits African Americans. In the video, Dr. Garth Graham, director of the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Minority Health, discusses how obtaining access to health insurance (due to the Affordable Care Act’s provisions) will lead to a decrease in medical bills and medical debt for African Americans. Michael Blake, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, blogs about his experience with health care and why health reform is so important to him. 
• The White House created a video Health Reform for Latinos, in which the Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, discusses how the Affordable Care Act will benefit Latinos. She discusses how 9 million Latinos will be eligible for health care under the Affordable Care Act. Secretary Solis also goes into detail about provisions in the Act that will benefit the Latino community, such as eliminating lifetime caps on health insurance costs and prohibiting the denial of health insurance due to an applicant’s pre-existing conditions.
• The Commonwealth Fund released a webinar, Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans Created by the Affordable Care Act. The webinar addresses the Affordable Care Act provision on establishing temporary high-risk pools called Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIPs). PCIPs are designed to make health insurance readily available to uninsured individuals with pre-existing conditions, many of whom had previously been denied coverage.

PUBLICATIONS:

• Families USA has released its final set of state fact sheets titled How Health Reform Helps Communities of Color. These state fact sheets discuss how provisions in the Affordable Care Act—both those for the general public and those specifically designed to eliminate health disparities—help communities of color.
• The University of Michigan Health System published the study, Black Patients, Women Miss Out on Strongest Medications for Chronic Pain. The results show that when seeking medication from their primary care physicians, black patients are prescribed fewer pain medications, and women receive weaker doses of medications. The study highlights the need to support successful primary care interventions since most patients seek chronic pain relief from their primary care physician. The study also notes that when patients continue to suffer unnecessarily, they risk depression, disability, sleep disturbances, and an inability to work or take care of their families.
• Lake Research Partners and the Herndon Alliance released a briefing presentation called Community Prevention and the Public. The briefing reveals that there is strong support for community prevention efforts among the general public. Research shows that 73 percent of the American public supports allocating resources towards community prevention initiatives that make it easier for people to maintain their health and make healthier choices. The briefing also provides insight on how different racial and ethnic groups view these prevention efforts.
• The Kaiser Family Foundation published Community Health Centers: Opportunities and Challenges of Health Reform. The issue brief describes the provisions of the new health reform law that affect community health centers, including increased funding designed to help open more health centers. It also examines the role that community health centers will play in implementing health reform and providing access to care for millions of Americans who will gain insurance coverage under the new law.
  
  

[Return to top]

Policy Updates

Action Alerts

Comments Solicited for CLAS Standards
The HHS Office of Minority Health is seeking public input from individuals and professional communities across the country for the CLAS Standards Enhancement Initiative—an effort to make enhancements to the current National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health Care, first released in 2000. To voice opinions about experiences with the CLAS Standards and comment on the standards, visit the CLAS website or attend one of the three public meetings held this fall in Baltimore, Maryland; San Francisco, California; or Chicago, Illinois.

Comments Requested for the National Prevention Strategy National Framework
The Affordable Care Act creates a National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council that will coordinate prevention activities and design a National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy along with communities across the country. The council is currently requesting comments on the draft National Prevention Strategy National Framework.  To provide comments, send an email to prevention.council@hhs.gov. For more information about the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council, click here.

Updates from the Department of Health and Human Services

Secretary Sebelius Announced Major Investment in Community Health Centers
The Department of Health and Human Services awarded more than $727 million in grants from the Affordable Care Act to upgrade and expand community health centers. A list of community health center grant awardees by state can be found here. Over the next five years, the Affordable Care Act will provide $11 billion in funding for the operation, expansion, and construction of community health centers across the country. Nationwide, community health centers serve nearly 19 million patients, of which 40 percent have no health insurance. Through this investment, newly constructed or expanded community health centers will provide health care to an additional 745,000 patients and provide new employment opportunities for people in both rural and urban underserved communities. This investment builds on the more than $2 billion investment in community health centers in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. For more information about the current investment in community health centers, click here.

HHS Awards $3.5 Million to Expand HIV/AIDS Care Capacity for Minorities
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced two grants totaling more than $3.5 million to reach beyond the Ryan White Program—the federally funded program that provides care and treatment to about half a million Americans living with HIV/AIDS—and provide expanded care and treatment for minority patients that have been affected by the disease. The first three-year grant, funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will provide $2.975 million to Washington, D.C.-based HealthHIV [link to http://www.healthyhiv.org/ ] to improve and enhance the organizational capacity of community health centers, which provide culturally competent, compassionate, high-quality, and life-sustaining care and treatment to racial and ethnic minorities living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. The grant will support a new AIDS Education and Training Center (AETC) National Center for Expansion of HIV care in minority communities. The second grant was awarded to Howard University, an historically black college located in Washington, D.C. The three-year grant of $550,000 establishes the AIDS Education and Training National Multicultural (Center). The Center will provide training and technical assistance designed to increase cross-cultural awareness and competency among health care professionals and facilities serving the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. For more information, click here.

New HHS Tribal Advisory Committee Created
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the establishment of a new Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee (STAC). Secretary Sebelius believes that the establishment of a tribal advisory committee at the Secretarial level will create a coordinated, department-wide strategy to incorporate tribal guidance on HHS priorities, policies and budget. The tribe is intended to improve the Government-to-Government relationship and mechanisms for continuous improvement with HHS’s partnership with Indian Tribes. For more information on the tribal advisory committee and the committee’s charter, visit here.

1,000 Additional Companies Join the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP)
Nearly 1,000 additional employers and unions will receive federal dollars for providing health coverage to early retirees and their families. ERRP provides $5 billion in financial assistance to employers and unions to help them maintain coverage for early retirees ages 55 and older who are not yet eligible for Medicare. Employers and unions participating in the program will receive reimbursement for the medical claims of their early retirees and their spouses, surviving spouses, and dependents. HHS has set up a website, www.ERRP.gov, where employers can begin submitting claims for reimbursements. To learn more about the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, click here.

Secretary Sebelius Sent Letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Regarding “Child-Only” Health Plans
Over the past several months, insurers in a number of states, have said they will not sell “child-only” policies (policies that cover just the child and not other family members) under the Affordable Care Act because they are concerned about the financial risks. Last week, Secretary Sebelius sent a letter to the NAIC clarifying the regulation that prevents insurers from denying coverage to children based on a pre-existing condition. The letter outlined options for insurers and states to offer child-only plans and stated that insurers could not refuse to accept children with pre-existing conditions when they are accepting other children. Click here to read Secretary Sebelius’s letter.

Activities in the Field

The Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program

The Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program, founded in December 2007, takes a proactive approach to addressing health care disparities within the African American community, particularly in regards to African American men. Nationwide, African American men experience higher rates of prostate cancer and hypertension than any other racial or ethnic group. Dr. Releford, founder of the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program, recognizes the lower life expectancy that African American men have compared to their counterparts. So, he designed a program geared towards African American men to provide early detection and intervention.

Dr. Releford recognized a unique opportunity in black-owned barbershops. He reached out to African American men in these barbershops to start a discussion revolving around health care and the importance of an active, healthy lifestyle. The recipe for success is quite simple, according to Dr. Releford, “The barbershop is a safe environment for black men; they are able to congregate freely, and long-standing friendships are established.” In addition to discussing health, Dr. Releford and the program provide the men with a take-away, a resource called “The Real Black Book.” Dr. Releford says, “the Real Black Book is a medical resource guide that reveals free or low-cost health care resources available in the area, and the book is adapted to every city the program visits.”

These visits and discussions have paid off, leading to lasting behavioral changes. According to Dr. Releford, “black men who have participated in the program are visiting doctor’s offices more regularly and choosing healthy options, like nutritious meals and exercise.” The program has a three-pronged approach: screen, educate, and refer to the appropriate health care resource. The goal is to provide preventive services, like blood pressure and diabetes screenings, to 500,000 African-American men nationwide by 2012.

Dr. Releford and the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program’s volunteers have made many strides to accomplish this goal. The program hopes to reach 20,000 men on its 50 city tour this year. Having already visited half of the cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, and New York City, the program has already reached thousands of men.

Despite the success of the program, Dr. Releford shared that there are challenges. Traveling from city to city, Dr. Releford expressed the difficulty of obtaining volunteers in low-income areas and acquiring the necessary sponsorship to cover the costs to continue the program. The Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program is an innovative approach to tackling health disparities through prevention and community-level health intervention, both of which are objectives of the Affordable Care Act.

For more information on the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program, please contact Dr. Bill Releford at drbill@blackbarbershop.org.

 [Return to top]

Upcoming Events

• Adventist Health Care Center on Health Disparities Fall Conference—Social Determinants of Health: The Role of Health Care in Leading Social Change in Local Communities
  November 3, 2010
  Universities of Shady Grove, 9630 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, MD 20850
  Sponsor: Adventist Health Care Center on Health Disparities
  For more information and to register click here.
• CLAS Standards Enhancement Initiative Public Meeting
  November 4, 2010
  Stanford Court Renaissance Hotel, 905 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108
  Sponsor: HHS Office of Minority Health
  For more information and to register click here. 
• 138th APHA Annual Meeting: Social Justice
  November 6 – 10, 2010
  Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th Street Denver, CO 80202
  Sponsor: American Public Health Association (APHA)
  For more information and to register click here.
• 4th Annual National Conference on Health Disparities
  Reducing Health Disparities through Strengthening and Sustaining Healthy Communities
  November 10 – 13, 2010
  Marriott Hotel, 1201 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
  Sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina Public Information and Community Outreach Group
  For more information and to register click here.
• CLAS Standards Enhancement Initiative Public Meeting
  November 15, 2010
  James Hotel, 55 East Ontario Street, Chicago, IL 60611
  Sponsor: HHS Office of Minority Health
  For more information and to register click here.
• North American Indian AIDS Summit 2010: “30 years without a cure in sight…What can we do as Native Peoples?”
  November 15 – 17, 2010
  Rochester Riverside Convention Center, 123 E Main Street, Rochester, NY 14604
  Sponsor: Liberty Research Group
  For more information and to register click here.

 [Return to top]