The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), USA, announced two strategic plans dedicated to tackling health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities throughout the country. One is called HHS Action Plan to Reduce Health Disparities and the other one National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity.

The HHS says it aims to get the public and private sectors to liaise closely and forge partnerships to improve healthcare for racial and ethnic minorities, as well as other underserved group. The authors explain that this is a product of the NPA (National Partnership Plan), coordinated by the HHS Office of Minority Health, and includes ideas, suggestions and comments from scores of organizations and individuals throughout the nation.

Minority groups have a significantly lower likelihood of receiving proper preventative care needed to remain healthy, they have a considerably greater risk of developing serious illnesses, such as heart disease or diabetes. When they do become ill, they find it much harder to have access to proper health care.

According to the HHS, the Affordable Care Act has the potential to meet the health care needs of America’s racial and ethnic minority populations, by reducing health care costs, investing in wellness and prevention, providing support to improve primary care services, and getting health and social services to liaise together more effectively.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, said:

“For the first time, the United States has a coordinated road map designed to give everyone the chance to live a healthy life. We all need to work together to combat this persistent problem so that we can build healthier communities and a stronger nation.”

Yesterday, Kathleen Sebelius met with community leaders, advocates and patients at the Boriken Community Health Center, East Harlem, New York, to witness how communities are tackling gaps in health care coverage.

The HHS Action Plan aims to:

  • Transform health care
  • Expand access
  • Widen insurance coverage and expand access to care
  • Increase the number of students from populations underrepresented in the health professions
  • Train more staff so that those with poor English can receive better treatment and care
  • Get more community workers into training so they can help individuals navigate the system
  • Set data standards and improve collection and analysis of information regarding race, ethnicity, first language spoken, and other demographic categories in line with the new provisions of the Affordable Care Act

Assistant Secretary for Health, Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH, said:

“Health disparities have burdened our country for too long. This plan reaffirms and revitalizes a national commitment to helping all persons reach their full health potential.”

Through the National Stakeholder Strategy, local groups should better identify which are their communities’ key aims, and adopt the best strategies to reach them, the HHS wrote in a communiqué.

Garth Graham, MD, MPH, deputy assistant secretary for minority health and director of the HHS Office of Minority Health, said:

“Where people live, learn, work and play affects their health as much as their access to health care. We have to confront the social, economicand environmental factors that contribute to health disparitiesif we are to fulfill the President’s goal of ‘winning the future.”

“National Partnership for Action”

“National Stakeholder Strategy For Achieving Health Equity”

Written by Christian Nordqvist