Race and Health Levels

Race and Health Levels
A look a minority health status in the United States

Policy Discussion

Reducing the racial and ethnic gap in the area of health care treatment is important for future implications in the United States. Undeniable evidence has shown that race and ethnicity are correlated to health disparities throughout the U.S. As the minority population increases, expecting to represent half of the United States' population by the year 2050, the issues surrounding quality of health care becomes increasingly prevalent. In order to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care, there must be new "efforts at preventing disease, promoting health and delivering appropriate care." [source] Legislation has been created in an attempt to address these issues of disparity in health levels and health care.

Healthy People 2010

"Healthy People 2010 challenges individuals, communities, and professional - indeed, all of us- to take specific steps to ensure that good health, as well as long life, are enjoyed by all." [source]

Healthy People 2010 is an initiative that has evolved from the 1979 report, Healthy People: The Surgeon General's Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Healthy People 2000. These earlier initiatives discussed the importance of improving health levels among all of the American people. The main goals of Healthy People 2000 was to increase the years of healthy life for Americans, reduce health disparities and achieve access to preventive services for all Americans. In order to reach these goals, 22 priority areas were determined and focused on, such as physical activity, nutrition, and family planning. [source]

Healthy People 2010 included the goals of the 2000 initiative, but added a second goal of specifically eliminating race and ethnic disparities in health. In order to reach this added goal, six focus areas were identified in which racial and ethnic minorities experience serious disparities in health access and outcomes: infant mortality, cancer screening and management, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV infections/AIDS, and immunizations.

In the areas of research, this plan will assess the effectiveness of Health and Human Services programs in its efforts to reach minority populations. This policy will help monitor programs to ensure that funds are being used in a nondiscriminatory way. Health and Human Services will provide resources for researchers who attempt to increase the involvement of minorities in research studies.

Health Care Fairness Act of 1999 [source]
Initially introduced into the Senate by Senator Edward Kennedy on 11/8/1999, the Health Care Fairness Act was signed into public law on 11/22/2000. The official title of the new law is A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the health of minority individuals. Under this law, six separate actions were developed.

Title I: Created the National Center on Minority and Health Disparities. The purpose of this office is to conduct and support research, training, circulation of information, and other programs in the area of minority health conditions or disparities. The Center provides funding to promote and support research on minority health conditions.

Title II: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is responsible for conducting and supporting research to identify populations that have significant disparities in quality, outcome, cost or use of health care services. This includes researching problems of access to health care. The Agency is also required to support research studies that aim at seeking strategies to eliminate these disparities.

Title III: The National Academy of Sciences is directed to conduct a study of the Department of Health and Human Services data collection processes and practices in relation to research on race or ethnicity.

Title IV: Grants, contracts and cooperative agreements can be provided to organizations who carry out projects for training and educating health professionals on the reduction of health care disparities, primarily focusing on outcomes and cultural competency.

Title V: Develop a national campaign to inform to public about racial, ethnic and other underserved populations affected by health disparities.

Title VI: Includes Native Hawaiians within the definition of a racial and ethnic minority group.