April 2008

In this Issue:

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

New Resources

NEW MEDIA:

• California Newsreel launched the new Unnatural Causes Web site at http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/. This site features send-to-a-friend video clips of the documentary series, interactive activities, case studies, tools for action, a directory of organizations that are working on health equity initiatives, and a moderated forum.
  
• The Medical Leadership Council on Cultural Proficiency’s language access database provides information about local, state, and national resources designed to assist health care providers in California in offering language access and culturally competent health care to their patients. The database is searchable by California county, specific language, or resource type. For more information and to access the database, click here.
  
• The Partnership for Quality Care hosted a summit, “Confronting the Chronic Care Challenge,” that focused on improving value in delivering care to patients with chronic conditions. In particular, the second panel of the summit focused on changing delivery systems to reduce inequities in health care. To view the entire summit or specific panels, click here.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:

• The National Council of La Raza is accepting applications for its grant program for community organizing groups that provide assistance to new and emerging Latino communities. Grants are awarded in conjunction with technical assistance and training to strengthen multi-issue community organizing work. The deadline for applications is May 30, 2008.  For more information and to submit an application, click here.

PUBLICATIONS:

• The Commonwealth Fund has released “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook.” Studies have shown that minorities are generally in poorer health, are more likely to be uninsured, and have more obstacles to obtaining quality health care. The chartbook is designed to help advocates, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners assess the impact of such disparities in health status, access, coverage, and health care quality. This invaluable resource provides evidence-based strategies that have proven successful in reducing health disparities that are specific to certain populations.
  
• The University of California, San Francisco released a study that found a lack of racial and ethnic diversity among doctors in California. For example, while blacks and Hispanics comprise 40 percent of the state’s population, they comprise less than 10 percent of the state’s physicians. In an effort to increase diversity within the physician workforce, the report recommended increased funding for medical education, improvement in medical school recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities, and incentives for physicians working in underserved communities. To read the full report, click here.
  
• The entire Health Affairs March/April issue focuses exclusively on racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. Articles cover the many diverse aspects of inequity in health, including the role of social determinants, the effects of education level on life expectancy and mortality, data collection, and workforce diversity.
  
• The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum released a new analysis that goes beyond national studies that often treat Asian Americans as a homogeneous and relatively healthy group. The report finds that certain subgroups of the nation’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations are doing much worse than other subgroups in terms of health coverage and access to health care. For example, among Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander subgroups, Chinese Americans are less likely to have visited a doctor in the last year compared to Asian Indians and Filipinos.
  
• The National Council of La Raza published a new fact sheet, “Medicaid and SCHIP: Critical for Latino Families Facing Financial Hardship,” which discusses how Medicaid is important to low-income Latino families, especially during economic hard times. The fact sheet argues that having access to Medicaid benefits prevents Latino families from having to compromise their health care or finances.
  
• The Office of Minority Health released the “Strategic Framework for Improving Racial and Ethnic Minority Health and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.” The plan presents five key steps to guide interagency efforts within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services  in coordinating, planning, and implementing initiatives to achieve better results in addressing health disparities in the U.S.
  
• The National Health Law Program released an updated survey of state laws and regulations that relate to the provision of health care services to Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals. The report notes that each of the 50 states has at least two laws governing language access in health care settings. To read the full report, click here.

[Return to top] 

Activities in the Field

The Multicultural Health Network

Five years ago, in the wake of an economic recession, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) in Utah threatened to close its doors. Until that time, OMH was the only agency in the Department of Public Health that addressed health equity for underserved populations. A group of concerned community leaders and advocates joined together to educate legislators about the importance of having an office of minority health to address the health disparities of its citizens. This informal group soon became known as the Multicultural Health Network (MHN). Through the group’s efforts, legislation was drafted and passed that re-established the office, now called the Center for Multicultural Health. However, many of the participating community leaders and advocates within the network saw the need to expand this work to include eliminating health disparities throughout all state efforts, not just as part of the OMH. After receiving a $50,000 federal grant, the Center of Multicultural Health contracted with the MHN to work on health disparities and ethnic health throughout Utah.

The MHN is organized around three working committees: 1) culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS), 2) policy and access, and 3) data. Communidades Unidas, a non-profit grassroots organization, became the MHN’s fiscal and coordinating agent in 2006. One goal of the MHN is to become a self-sustaining 501(c)3 nonprofit organization by 2010.

MHN has partnered with the Utah Health Policy Project to help inform the network’s major policy objectives, particularly in the areas of language access and Medicaid enrollment issues. This partnership yielded a victory this legislative session when a bill was passed that provides outreach and assistance to under-enrolled Medicaid populations.  The MHN has played a significant part in informing the state’s health reform efforts by conducting numerous community forums to discuss ethnic heath issues.

Currently, the MHN has the broad objective of focusing on the elimination of health disparities in Utah. The network has discussed narrowing its focus to specific aspects of health disparities, but for now, it will continue with its broad scope. One suchfocused activity would include working with community health centers to increase health care access for underserved communities. The MHN has also secured funding to help communities, such as those that are racially and ethnically diverse and refugee groups, assess their health priority areas. Each community receives $5,000 to conduct focus groups to determine their specific health status and health care needs.

“I love to brainstorm ideas with other states,” says Sabrina Morales, the Executive Director of Comunidades Unidas. She has been a part of the group since its inception. She offers two pieces of advice for community groups working in a coalition. First, always encourage collaboration. Morales suggests recruiting leaders from diverse, ethnic communities and ensuring there is more than one representative from each community. “One person cannot be expected to speak for an entire community,” Morales added. Second, identify what the priorities are at the beginning and be specific in assigning tasks to committees.

Working in a politically conservative state, Morales believes that the network has been successful because of the support it has from different groups. Active members of the network include all the major hospitals in Utah, the American Medical Association, several HMOs, policy makers, and the faith community. The MHN engages organizations and individuals from the private, public, and community sectors in a common goal:- the elimination of health inequities in Utah.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the Multicultural Health Network, contact Isabel Rojas, Coordinator of MHN, at 801-566-6191, isabel@cuutah.org, or Sabrina Morales, MPA, Executive Director, Comunidades Unidas, 801-566-6191 (office), (801) 842-2333 (cell), sabrina@cuutah.org.

[Return to top]

Policy Updates

House Committee Blocks New Medicaid Regulations

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health voted to delay until April 2009 implementation of a series of Medicaid regulations instituted by the Administration.  Over the next five years, these regulations would result in drastic funding cuts to public hospitals, rehabilitative services for people with disabilities, specialized medical transportation to school for children receiving Medicaid, hospital clinic services, case management services, and graduate medical education.

There is strong, bipartisan support for the legislation. The Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce passed the bill, Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008 (H.R. 5613), unanimously by a voice vote. The full committee unanimously voted to approve the bill this week. However, the White House has promised to veto the bill.

A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate, S. 2819. The Senate version targets two additional sets of rules and would also stop the implementation of a controversial new policy that limits children’s participation in CHIP. While there is strong support in the Senate and the House for blocking the regulations, the ultimate outcome is unclear.

Upcoming Events

• “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
• Congressional Briefing on Health Inequality and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
  April 24, 2008, 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m., Room HC-8, Capitol Building, Washington, DC
  RSVP: call Kara Forsyth at 202- 223-2848 or e-mail KForsyth@rabengroup.com
• “Creating Equity Reports: A Guide for Hospitals” webinar
  April 24, 2008, 3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. EDT
  Sponsor: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  For more information and to register click here
• Latino Voices in Universal Health Care: A Regional Action Summit
  May 3, 2008, 9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Sheraton 4-Points, 275 Research Parkway, Meriden, CT  06450
  Sponsors: Latinos for National Health Insurance and Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut
  For more information and to register: http://www.latinosnhi.org/may3.php
• “Toward Health Equality and Patient-Centeredness: Integrating Health Literacy, Disparities Reduction, and Quality Improvement” workshop
  May 12, 2008, 8:00 a.m.-5:10 p.m., the Fairmont Newport Beach, 4500 MacArthur Boulevard., Newport Beach, CA 92660
  Sponsor: Institute of Medicine
  For more information and to register: http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3809/38607/52892.aspx
• National Public Health Summit
  May 21-22, 2008, Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, 2040 Airport Road, Green Bay, Wisconsin 54313
  Host: National Indian Health Board
  For more information: Lawrence Shorty at 703-553-2516 or lshorty@nihb.org.
• Recognizing Innovation in Multicultural Health Care Award call for applications
  Deadline: May 30, 2008
  Sponsor: National Committee for Quality Assurance
  For more information and to apply: www.ncqa.org/clas.aspx

 [Return to top]