Sec. 905. Sense of Congress concerning full funding of activities to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities
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Congress makes the following findings: The health status of the population of the United States is declining and the United States currently ranks below most industrialized nations in health status measured by longevity, sickness, and mortality. Racial and ethnic minority populations tend to have the poorest health status and face substantial cultural, social, and economic barriers to obtaining quality health care. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning populations experience significant personal and structural barriers to obtaining high-quality health care.
Efforts to improve minority health have been limited by inadequate resources (funding, staffing, and stewardship) and lack of accountability. It is the sense of Congress that— health disparities negatively impact outcomes for health and human security of the Nation; reducing racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender disparities in prevention and treatment are unique civil and human rights challenges and, as such, Federal agencies and health care entities and systems receiving Federal funds should be accountable for their role in causing disparities and inequity; funding for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the Office of Minority Health should be doubled by fiscal year 2022; adequate funding by fiscal year 2022, and subsequent funding increases, should be provided for health and human service professions training programs, the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Initiative at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, and the Excellence Centers to Eliminate Ethnic/Racial Disparities Program at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; funding should be fully restored to the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Initiative at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has been a successful program at the community health level, and efforts should continue to place a strong emphasis on building community capacity to secure financial resources and technical assistance to eliminate health disparities; adequate funding for fiscal year 2022 and increased funding for future years should be provided for the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Initiative’s United States Risk Factor Survey to ensure adequate data collection to track health disparities, and there should be appropriate avenues provided to disseminate findings to the general public; current and newly created health disparity elimination incentives, programs, agencies, and departments under this Act (and the amendments made by this Act) should receive adequate staffing and funding by fiscal year 2022; and stewardship and accountability should be provided to the Congress and the President for measurable and sustainable progress toward health disparity elimination.