http://www.thecharlottepost.com/index.php?src=news&srctype=detail&category=News&refno=2481Members of the CBC say they believe the bill will make significant impact in the black community.
“We cast our votes for all those people who deserve health care but simply can’t afford it. We cast our votes for our senior citizens who will see their prescription drug costs go down. We cast our votes for our children and grandchildren, so that they can live longer, fuller and healthier lives. We cast our votes in the memory of those people who didn’t have preventive care and died prematurely,” said a statement from Congressional Black Caucus Chair Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) applauding the passage. “We were vocal advocates for provisions in the bill to combat health disparities, illnesses and diseases that disproportionately affect our community. To those who suffer from those health disparities, our vote tonight carries significance similar to the passage of the Civil Rights Act in that it fulfills a dream that has been elusive for far too long and for far too many Americans.”
Accordng to a CBC document, other key provisions in the legislation that CBC members fought to have included are:
• Expanded support for community health centers, which play a vital role in expanding access to preventive and other care in our nation’s most vulnerable communities.
• Greater support for programs that will increase the racial and ethnic diversity in the nation’s health workforce, as well as improved data collection so that we can better measure health inequities and develop solutions to end all health disparities.
• Strengthening the existing Office of Minority Health at HHS, creating new Offices of Minority Health across HHS agencies, and establishes the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities at NIH an Institute.
• Inclusion of coverage for resident of the U.S. territories, including a significant infusion of new Medicaid dollars, as well as access to the Exchange so that Americans in the territories will have access to affordable, high-quality health insurance plans.
• Guarantees transparency on rates and enables state insurance commissioners to recommend to the National Insurance Commissioner whether a particular insurer should participate in the Health Insurance Exchange, taking into account excessive or unjustified premium increases in making that determination. This will hold private insurers accountable, ensure affordability and help provide quality coverage for American families.
Increased funding for community health centers and new investments to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants—both beginning in the next fiscal year—will have the biggest impact on disadvantaged communities in rural and urban areas such as Baltimore, Md.
http://www.afro.com/sections/news/national/story.htm?storyid=468According to an analysis by Baltimore HealthCare Access, a local nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to healthcare, more than 600,000 uninsured Marylanders, including more than 63,000 in Baltimore City, will gain access to affordable coverage the federal legislation: By January 2014, 31,793 uninsured residents could qualify for Medicaid, when the program is expanded to include all persons under age 65 with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). And, 32,372 more uninsured Baltimoreans with incomes between 134 percent- 400 percent of FPL can get subsidized health coverage through the exchanges.
Without these reforms, people will continue to delay getting needed preventative care such as screenings that can detect early prostate, colon and breast cancers and prevent early death. America will continue to have some 47 million people who are left out of the system, who are without a medical home and of necessity will use emergency rooms, thus adding to the ever-increasing yearly cost of health care. While we spend almost $2.5 trillion per year on health care, we spend less than 3 percent of our health budget on population-based prevention.
What is the health care exchange? A lot of people don’t understand what that is.
The exchange is a marketplace, a place where individuals and small businesses can pool their purchasing power to buy health insurance. Right now you’re IBMs and all these big organizations can go bargain with health plans for better benefits at a cheaper rate but individuals and small companies don’t have that power. So exchanges can bring all these people together to create that purchasing power to get insurance, because the more people who are in it, the cheaper it is for everyone. So when you’re an individual, you’re now part of a pool that can use your purchasing power and shop for insurance.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/health-bill-will-iron-397860.htmlThis country needs a health system that balances health promotion, disease prevention, early detection and universal access to care, including mental health care. A balanced health system that focuses more attention on prevention is both more cost-effective and more humane. Hopefully, this legislation begins to move us in that direction.
Dr. David Satcher, the director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine, was the 16th U.S. surgeon general.
http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-03-24/politics-city-county-government/state-health/what-does-obamas-health-care-reform-mean-for-youWhat about this idea of a mandate that everyone has to have health insurance or face a fine? How will that affect communities of color?
There will need to be a lot of outreach that’s linguistically and culturally appropriate. Some groups are excluded from the mandate. People who do not have access to insurance like undocumented immigrants will not have to buy insurance under the mandate, and then hopefully people will understand what the exemptions and hardship exclusions are. But none of this takes effect until 2014 when the health insurance exchanges goes into effect .. and the exchange is supposed to help.
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