Sec. 3. Findings
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The Congress finds as follows: The population of racial and ethnic minorities is expected to increase over the next few decades, yet racial and ethnic minorities have the poorest health status and face substantial cultural, social, and economic barriers to obtaining quality health care. Health disparities are a function of not only access to health care, but also the social determinants of health—including the environment, the physical structure of communities, nutrition and food options, educational attainment, employment, race, ethnicity, sex, geography, language preference, immigrant or citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or disability status—that directly and indirectly affect the health, health care, and wellness of individuals and communities.
By 2020, the Nation will face a shortage of health care providers and allied health workers and this shortage disproportionately affects health professional shortage areas where many racial and ethnic minority populations reside. All efforts to reduce health disparities and barriers to quality health services require better and more consistent data. A full range of culturally and linguistically appropriate health care and public health services must be available and accessible in every community.
Racial and ethnic minorities and underserved populations must be included early and equitably in health reform innovations. Efforts to improve minority health have been limited by inadequate resources in funding, staffing, stewardship, and accountability. Targeted investments that are focused on disparities elimination must be made in providing care and services that are community-based, including prevention and policies addressing social determinants of health. In 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services developed the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity, two strategic plans that represent the country’s first coordinated roadmap to reducing health disparities.
Along with the National Prevention Strategy, Healthy People 2020, and the National Health Care Quality Strategy, as well as critical resources such as the 2012 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports, these comprehensive plans will work to increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life. The Department of Health and Human Services has also reviewed and advanced updated clinical guidelines and developed other strategic planning documents— to combat health disparities with a high impact on minority populations including the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care, and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis; and to provide high-quality family planning services including recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of Population Affairs.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, represents the biggest advancement for minority health in the last 40 years.