March 2008

In this Issue:

• New Resources 
  • NEW MEDIA
  • FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
  • PUBLICATIONS
    
    
• Activities in the Field
  
  
• Policy Updates
  
   
• Upcoming Events

New Resources

NEW MEDIA:

• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched a two year commission to improve the health of all Americans. The Commission to Build a Healthier America is the first national, consensus-seeking group working to identify non-medical strategies that can be used to reduce health disparities based on differences in race, ethnicity, and income. To view a webcast of the launch, click here.
• The Praxis Project has introduced an interactive online tool to assist community-based organizations, public health advocates, and practitioners in grading counties on the actions they are taking to ensure the health and well-being of communities. The Health Justice Report Card can also be used to measure the health status of ethnic and racial groups at the county level. To access this tool, click here.
• The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has an online toolkit, the USCRI Healthy Living Toolkit, to educate refugees and immigrants on becoming proactive consumers and promoters of health care. The toolkit can support health professionals, health promoters, interpreters, and case managers who are helping immigrants and refugees to navigate the U.S. health care system. To view the toolkit, click here.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:

• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has issued a call for grant applications for the Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research program. This program funds highly qualified individuals to perform research and develop initiatives that address critical health policy issues in the U.S. The application deadline is March 26, 2008. For more information and application instructions, click here.

PUBLICATIONS:

• The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released its fifth annual report on health care disparities. While the report shows some reduction in racial and ethnic disparities from 2000 to 2005, several major disparities remained unchanged. For example, blacks had 10 times more newly diagnosed HIV cases than whites, and American Indians and Alaska Natives were twice as likely as whites to lack prenatal care. To read the entire report, click here.
• As part of its Commission to Build a Healthier America, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a new report, Overcoming Obstacles to Health, describing how Americans’ health status may be linked to income, education, race, and ethnicity. The study offers a significant amount of evidence linking socioeconomic status and health quality. For instance, the report identified that, on average, poor, less educated minorities die six years earlier than their wealthier, more highly educated counterparts.
• The Urban Indian Health Institute recently issued Reported Health and Health-Influencing Behaviors Among Urban American Indians and Alaska Natives. This comprehensive study shows that American Indians and Alaska Natives living in specific urban locations have a higher incidence of risky behavior, are more likely to describe difficulty accessing health care, and experience worse health outcomes than the general population.
• Colorado Multi-Ethnic/Cultural Consortium released a policy brief explaining the critical importance of health equity in Colorado’s health reform efforts. The brief provides several action steps to increase health care quality and reduce health care costs. To read the policy brief, click here.
• Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have demonstrated that as the overall health of the U.S. population improved from 1960 to 2002, inequities in health both increased and decreased. The researchers believe that the rise and fall of health disparities is connected to changes in social programs. To read the study, click here.
• Pediatrics published a study showing that black infants with very low birth weights are almost twice as likely as white infants to receive care in New York City hospitals with the worst outcomes. The researchers further suggested that efforts to improve health care quality at the lowest-performing hospitals may be the best way to reduce this disparity. To read the entire report, click here.
• The Disparity Reducing Advances Project released a report, Using Healthy Eating and Active Living Initiatives to Reduce Health Disparities, that provides an overview of eight national healthy eating and physical activity initiatives and explains how these initiatives are actively reducing health disparities.
• The Journal of Pediatrics published a study demonstrating how Spanish-language television commercials for food and beverages may be contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic in the Latino community. The study found that almost a third of these commercials are specifically geared towards children, and the foods usually have little nutritional value. To read an abstract of the study, click here.
• The Journal of the American Medical Association features a commentary, Who Is Accountable for Racial Equity in Health Care, which discusses several factors contributing to racial and ethnic health disparities in the U.S. The commentary focuses on how race affects hospital revenue, and how hospitals lacking sound finances are unable to attract and retain high quality health professionals. To read an extract of the article, click here.
• National Council of La Raza released a fact sheet, Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance: Already Poor Access Dwindles Further for Working Latino Families. The fact sheet describes how the Latino community has the highest uninsurance rate compared to any other racial or ethnic group in the U.S. due to the fact that this population disproportionately holds jobs that do not offer insurance coverage. English and Spanish versions of the fact sheet are available.

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Activities in the Field

Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia, Inc.

For almost two decades, the Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia, Inc. (HHCGA) has strived to promote health in the Latino/Hispanic community by creating a network of health care professionals to exchange ideas and best practices. HHCGA includes more than 100 representatives from local and regional nonprofit agencies that provide direct health and human services to Spanish-speaking clients within the state of Georgia. “We approach health in a broad manner within the Latino community. We involve the schools, the Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, the police, and the Department of Health and Human Services in our work with Latino groups,” said Suzy Martorell, President of the coalition.

The coalition has involved itself in several policy issues affecting the Latino/Hispanic population in Georgia. One such issue surfaced in 2006, when Georgia vowed to follow a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ruling that denied Medicaid eligibility to infants born to immigrant women receiving Emergency Medicaid until they applied and proved their infant’s citizenship. The coalition was instrumental in reversing this ruling and, as a result, ensured health care access to all Georgia newborns. HHCGA has also collaborated with several refugee groups to advocate for equal health care access and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) issues. The coalition is currently searching for funding to hold a Latino/Hispanic health summit in the state using the National Council of La Raza report, Latino Health, Georgia’s Future: Strategies for Improving the Health of Latinos in the State as a focal point for discussion

Lately, a large portion of the coalition’s work has concentrated on access to health care and social benefits for immigrants in Georgia. “There is not only a lot of fear and misinformation in immigrant communities,” said Martorell, “There is also misinformation within the health service agencies themselves.” A prime example described by Martorell involves widespread confusion over SB 529, a bill requiring state agencies to verify the immigration status of adults applying for public benefits. Several agencies are inappropriately refusing public assistance and other specific benefits to immigrants because of their misinterpretation of the law’s provisions. The coalition is committed to re-educating these agencies and the Latino/Hispanic community on proper procedure for accessing state health benefits in Georgia.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia Inc., visit their Web site at http://www.hhcga.org/index.cfm, or contact Suzy Martorell at smartor@emory.edu or 404-931-6619.

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Policy Updates

Mental Health Parity Bill Passes the House

After almost a 10 year battle to ensure that quality mental health care is available to all Americans, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 (HR 1424) passed in the House by a vote of 268 to 148. The House bill requires that private insurance plans that cover mental health services provide the same benefits for mental illness that they do for other medical conditions. The bill prohibits insurers from placing limits on benefits or charging higher fees for mental health care than for other medical care.

The mental health parity legislation was first introduced in 1999 by Senators Paul Wellstone and Pete Dominici in an effort to end discrimination against individuals with mental disorders.

Equity in mental health care is a critical component to comprehensive health care for communities of color. Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General, noted in 1999 that minorities had less access to mental health services, often received poorer quality of care for mental illness, and were less likely to receive needed mental health care. Some minority groups are disproportionately affected by mental health disorders compared to the general population. This discrepancy can be seen particularly with American Indians and Alaska Natives, whose suicide rate is 50 percent higher than the national rate.

The Senate passed their mental health parity bill, Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 (S. 558), last September. Both the Senate and House bills share the goal of ending discrimination against mental health treatment in insurance coverage but they have a few significant differences. Negotiators will have to resolve these differences while also factoring in the views of the Administration, which supports the Senate version.

Senate Passes Indian Health Bill

Proposals to reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) have been introduced in Congress for over a decade. This past month, reauthorization of IHCIA came one step closer when the Senate finally passed its version of the bill. With a vote of 83 to10, the Senate authorized $35 billion over the next 10 years for the Indian Health Services agency to expand health services to almost 2 million Native Americans. The bill provides more funding for cancer and diabetes screening programs, behavioral health and substance abuse programs, and projects to build and modernize health clinics on reservations. The bill will also expand scholarship and loan programs to encourage more Native Americans to enter the health care field. The companion bill currently resides in committee, and its sponsor, Rep. Frank Pallone, predicts that it will move quickly through the House.

Upcoming Events

• HIV and Minorities: Cultural Competence and the Quality of Care
  March 28, 2008, 7:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., The Four Points Hotel by Sheraton, 1201 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005
  Sponsor: Howard University College of Medicine
  To register: www.nmaetc2008symposium.info or call Marjorie Douglas at (202) 865-8389
• Community Voices’ Freedom’s Voice Conference
  April 9-11, 2008, Hyatt Regency Atlanta, 265 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30303
  Sponsor: The Community Voices Initiative
  For more information and to register: http://www.communityvoices.org/events.aspx
• Improving Medical Effectiveness and Health Outcomes to Eliminate Health Disparities through Multidisciplinary Collaborations
  April 10-12, 2008, Westin New Orleans Canal Place, 100 Rue Iberville, New Orleans, LA 70130
  Sponsor: Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy
  For more information and to register: http://xula08.the1joshuagroup.com
• Health Care Reform & Health Disparities: A Priority for Hispanic Communities
  April 17-20, 2008, Washington Hilton Hotel, 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
  Sponsor: National Hispanic Medical Association
  For more information and to register: http://www.nhmamd.org/conference2008.htm
• Promising Practices Across Maryland, Annual Maryland Health Disparities Conference
  April 24, 2008, Martin’s West, 6817 Dogwood Road, Baltimore, MD 21244
  Host: Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities
  For more information: www.mdhealthdisparities.org or call 410-767-7117
• What’s the Use of Race?
  April 25-26, 2008, Faculty Club, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 50 Memorial Drive, Sixth Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139
  Host: The Center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology, and Medicine
  For more information and to register: http://web.mit.edu/csd/WUR/Welcome.html

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