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January 2007
In this Issue:
New Resources
Activities in the Field
Policy Updates
Medicare Part D
Upcoming Events
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released its fourth annual National Healthcare Disparities Report, as well as its National Healthcare Quality Report. Consistent with extensive research and the findings of previous reports, the 2006 reports find that racial and ethnic health disparities still permeate the U.S. health care system at all levels.
The California Endowment recently released two new resources. The Connecting Worlds Curriculum is an introduction to health care interpreting that combines a variety of teaching methods and materials, including lectures, videos, large group discussions, small group activities, role-plays, research, and homework. Certifying Health Care Interpreters provides an overview of certification issues for health care interpreters in the United States.
The Disparities Solution Center at Massachusetts General Hospital will be sponsoring a new Disparities Leadership Program in 2007. The Disparities Leadership Program (DLP) is a yearlong executive education program designed for leaders in the health field who wish to implement practical strategies to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. To learn more about the program, please download the DLP Request for Applications. Intent to Apply Forms are due by February 1, 2007, and complete applications are due by March 1, 2007.
Harvard School of Public Health will be launching a new Web site, DiversityData.org that features statistical data on metropolitan areas throughout the country including health figures, economic and housing opportunities, and a variety of other socioeconomic indicators. There will be a launching event for the new Web site on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 in the First Amendment Room at the National Press Club from 8:30-11:00 am.
Kaiser Family Foundation recently updated their HIV fact sheets on black Americans, Latinos, and women.
National Institutes of Health hosted a conference in October entitled “Understanding and Reducing Disparities in Health: Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Contributions.” Presentations and materials are now available online.
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Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care
Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care was founded in 1988 with the mission of addressing the demand for Spanish-speaking maternal and pediatric services in the predominantly Latino areas of Washington, D.C.’s Ward 1. Today, the center serves a multicultural population that lives in every ward of the city, focusing on families who work in jobs where health insurance is not available.
Mary’s Center not only provides maternal and pediatric services to a population that does not have access to health care, but the organization also offers case management and family literacy programs using a holistic approach that combines both medical and social components. Minority populations tend to use medical services less than white populations due to many social and structural barriers. Mary’s Center breaks through these barriers head-on. Maria Gomez, founder and executive director of Mary’s Center, came to the U.S. from Colombia at a young age and understands the importance of providing a welcoming environment to individuals who don’t have the means to access, or are unfamiliar with, the U.S. health care system. That is why the center works hard to provide linguistically and culturally appropriate care to all patients.
Mary’s Center has become such a trusted source of care for people around the D.C. metro area that they will be opening a new center in nearby Montgomery County, Maryland in collaboration with Washington Adventist Hospital in the spring of 2007.
Organizations such as Mary’s Center play a crucial role in the fight to eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Families USA’s annual Health Action Conference, which will take place the week of January 25-27, will feature five sessions on important minority health issues. If you are registered to attend the conference, you can hear Maria Gomez speak about her experience and share her expertise in providing effective health care to a culturally diverse population at the workshop “From Policy to Practice: Addressing Language and Culture in Health Care” on Friday, January 26.
For more information on Mary’s Center, please e-mail info@maryscenter.org or visit their Web site at www.maryscenter.org.
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Medicare Part D
The 110th Congress has promised to make improving health care one of its top priorities. Earlier this month, in an effort to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors and people with disabilities, the House of Representatives approved legislation (H.R. 4) that would require the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices on behalf of 43 million Medicare beneficiaries. This is the first step toward removing a provision in the 2003 prescription drug law that prohibits direct government negotiation with pharmaceutical companies to determine Part D drug prices.
A recent analysis by Families USA shows that Medicare beneficiaries are not getting the best possible price for the drugs that they need. The study compared prescription drug prices charged by private Part D plans to the prices negotiated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the same drugs. In every case, the lowest Part D plan price was higher than the price obtained by the VA. In some cases, the lowest Part D price was several times higher than the VA price.
Removing the prohibition that prevents Medicare from bargaining for better prices will help make prescription drugs more affordable for all Medicare beneficiaries. We hope that this is the first of many steps that Congress will take this year to address problems of affordability and access in health care.
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- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health will be hosting their 28th Annual Minority Health Conference, AIDS at 25: It's Time to Deliver, on Friday, February 23, 2007, at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For those who cannot attend, there will be a free, interactive satellite and Internet broadcast of the 9th Annual William T. Small, Jr. Keynote Lecture from the conference.
- Joint Center Health Policy Institute (HPI) and the University of Michigan NIH Roadmap Disparities Center will host Research to Policy: Improving African American Birth Outcomes, a day-long roundtable discussion, on Tuesday, February 20, 2007, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
- Families USA’s annual conference, Health Action 2007, is next week. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to attend the new minority health track, which will feature sessions on advancing the health disparities agenda; state activities to improve minority health and reduce disparities; incorporating policy and legislative advocacy into health disparities work; dispelling myths surrounding immigrants and reframing the issue of immigrant health; and policies and practices related to cultural competence and language access.
- Visit our Web site for the latest conference information and registration details.
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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: minorityhealth@familiesusa.org.
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