LEGISLATION INTRODUCED TO END HEALTH DISPARITIES

Congresswoman Robin Kelly has introduced H.R. 8200, the Ending Health Disparities during COVID-19 Act, which focuses on data collection, contact tracing, health IT, insurance access, community grants, public awareness and increased federal oversight. Photo courtesy of Congresswoman Robin Kelly
Congresswoman Robin Kelly has introduced H.R. 8200, the Ending Health Disparities during COVID-19 Act, which focuses on data collection, contact tracing, health IT, insurance access, community grants, public awareness and increased federal oversight. Photo courtesy of Congresswoman Robin Kelly

 Legislation introduced to end health disparities

BY TIA CAROL JONES
Congresswoman Robin Kelly, D-Ill., has introduced H.R. 8200, the Ending Health Disparities during COVID-19 Act. The legislation focuses on data collection, contact tracing, health IT, insurance access, community grants, public awareness and increased federal oversight.
     Kelly said it was already known that there were racial health disparities, but COVID-19 exacerbated the issue. She said the numbers were shocking, but not surprising, especially when you look at diabetes, AIDS and hypertension.
     “We wanted to put something together that works toward ending these disparities. And, we say COVID, this COVID pandemic but, of course, we want it to be period. That’s why the bill is divided into immediate efforts related to targeting and testing and tracing and public awareness,” she said. “And then, longer term, it seeks to reform our broken and unfair healthcare system through community grants, and health IT and increase insurance access.”
     Kelly said the bill also looks at diversifying the healthcare pipeline. She said it shows that there is something ugly and very inequitable in a system where as compared to other populations, a disproportionate number of Blacks, Native Americans as well as many Latinxs are getting sick and dying from COVID-19.
     “The communities of color were the ones mostly affected,” Kelly said. “We’re the essential workers, we don’t [have] the access to healthcare. We live more in multigenerational environments. It says a lot that’s not good,” she added.
     Kelly said we need to make sure that, “in the richest country in the history of the world, that people have access to healthcare.”
There is also a push towards telemedicine and trying to increase the number of Black doctors in the medical profession, Kelly stated. She went on to explain that there has been a multifaceted approach towards ending the health disparities.
     Kelly said the legislation has been endorsed by the Congressional Tri-Caucus, along with the National Health Board. Co-sponsors include Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Representative Karen Bass, as well as Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Representative Joaquin Castro and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chairwoman Representative Judy Chu.
     To get past COVID-19, Kelly continued, “we have to have more testing, more contact tracing, more public awareness and of course, more treatment,” she said. “That’s the first thing and people have to play their part and wearing their mask[s] and socially distance themselves. So, we have to deal with the immediate to even get to the other part,” she said.
     Kelly said systemic racism has been one of the reasons for inequities in healthcare when it comes to Black people. Implicit bias and the need for more doctors of color can also be attributed to the inequities.
     In a press release, Bass said that while the spread and outcome of COVID-19 brought issues of healthcare disparities to the forefront of national attention, it did not catch Black America by surprise.
     “What we are seeing is more than just an overstretched healthcare system, but instead the result of years of systemic racism, disenfranchisement, and oppression of Black people in America,” she said. “The Ending Health Disparities during COVID-19 Act provides targeted legislation to tackle longstanding inequalities in our healthcare system and ensures that our most vulnerable populations receive the quality care they deserve.”

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