Review exhibit 2 (p XXXXXXXXXXof “Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities: The Action Plan from the Department of Health and Human Services.”Based on your review, do you believe that the goals and...

Review exhibit 2 (p. 1824) of “Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities: The Action Plan from the Department of Health and Human Services.”












Based on your review, do you believe that the goals and strategies of this Action Plan hold promise to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities? Why or why not?








HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities A NAtioN free of dispArities iN heAlth ANd heAlth cAre TABLE OF CONTENTS A Nation Free of Disparities in Health and Health Care Introduction and Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 New Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Vision and Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Overarching Secretarial Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Goal I: Transform Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Goal II: Strengthen the Nation’s Health and Human Services Infrastructure and Workforce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Goal III: Advance the Health, Safety, and Well-Being of the American People . . . . . . . . . . 25 Goal IV: Advance Scientific Knowledge and Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Goal V: Increase Efficiency, Transparency, and Accountability of HHS Programs . . . . . . . 33 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Appendix A: Provisions of the Affordable Care Act that Address Health Disparities . . . . . 39 Appendix B: Key Opportunities to Advance Health Disparity Reduction at HHS . . . . . . . . 42 Appendix C: Key Disparity Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Appendix D: Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 1 A Nation Free of Disparities in Health and Health Care INTrODuCTION AND BACkgrOuND Introduction and Background “It is time to refocus, reinforce, and repeat the message that health disparities exist and that health equity benefits everyone.” – Kathleen G. Sebelius, Secretary, Health & Human Services Medical advances and new technologies have provided people in America with the potential for longer, healthier lives more than ever before. However, persistent and well-documented health disparities exist between different racial and ethnic populations and health equity remains elusive. Health disparities — differences in health outcomes that are closely linked with social, economic, and environmental disadvantage — are often driven by the social conditions in which individuals live, learn, work and play. This document provides a brief overview of racial and ethnic health disparities and unveils a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (“HHS Disparities Action Plan”). The HHS Disparities Action Plan complements the 2011 National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity, a product of the National Partnership for Action (“NPA Stakeholder Strategy”). The NPA Stakeholder Strategy reflects the commitment of thousands of individuals across the country in almost every sector. It resulted from a public-private collaboration that solicited broad community input with the assistance of state and local government and Federal agencies. The NPA Stakeholder Strategy proposes a comprehensive, community-driven approach to reduce health disparities in the U.S. and achieve health equity through collaboration and synergy. Now, this first-ever HHS Disparities Action Plan and the NPA Stakeholder Strategy can be used together to coordinate action that will effectively address racial and ethnic health disparities across the country. Furthermore, the HHS Disparities Action Plan builds on national health disparities’ goals and objectives recently unveiled in Healthy People 2020, and leverages key provisions of the Affordable Care Act and other cutting-edge HHS initiatives. With the HHS Disparities Action Plan, the Department commits to continuously assessing the impact of all policies and programs on racial and