Addressing Health Inequities as the Core Challenge in U.S. Healthcare Reform
It is hard to disagree that the primary issue that undermines the effectiveness of U.S. healthcare is the high rates of inequities and inequalities. Notwithstanding their race, income level, or other irrelevant characteristics, all Americans need access to high-quality medical services and receive adequate care from healthcare workers. Unfortunately, in the U.S., elected and unelected officials are yet to be taught about the importance of health equity and the need to identify unfairness. However, some effective policies that can enhance equity are offered for discussion, and the purpose of this paper is to review them.
Health Equity and Accountability Act
Firstly, paying attention to the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2022 (HEAA) is essential. Introduced in the Senate less than a year ago, it has already secured the support of different foundations, funds, and forums. According to Bode (2022) and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (2022), the act promises to undertake a comprehensive approach to reducing health disparities for medically underserved groups, rural populations, and communities of color.
To be more precise, the Health Equity and Accountability Act seeks to make the health and demographic disparities in data reporting more detailed, including cases of public health emergencies. The reported data will include specific factors, such as “race and ethnicity, immigration status, age, disability, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, language, and socio-economic status” (Bode, 2022, para. 2). This step directly addresses the need to have more information about patients’ experiences to understand whether the rates of equality drop or grow and determine the exact causes and manifestations of healthcare inequality.
Furthermore, HEAA aims to increase minority patients’ access to linguistically and culturally appropriate medical services. Indeed, since a lack of such access is another factor contributing to the growth of healthcare discrimination, the act contributes significantly to promoting the change (APIAHF, 2022). One step to achieving the goal is to make the field’s workforce more diverse, which the Health Equity and Accountability Act lists in its purposes (APIAHF, 2022).
It is noticeable that the act already has numerous sponsors. People and organizations believe it will introduce powerful changes because it is a landmark legislation, partly based on previous successful policies involving the Affordable Care Act. Therefore, one might say that this bill is quite promising since it not only refers to eliminating disparities but also directs efforts toward identifying them in the first place. This will help policymakers and other involved figures be more informed when deciding how to make U.S. healthcare more equitable.
NIH Clinical Trial Diversity Act
The second legislation to review in this paper is the NIH Clinical Trial Diversity Act of 2022. One may notice that this act’s specialization and focus are less broad than the HEAA’s because it refers primarily to clinical trial equity. However, since this is also a severe challenge to achieving healthcare equality and eliminating discrimination, this bill can be considered promising and effective. According to Abreu and Abdul-Jabbar (2022) and Collins and Menendez (2022), this legislation has an interesting and compelling regulatory framework anchored in the four accountability pillars. They are:
- transparency,
- goal-setting and action planning,
- education and awareness, and
- identification and elimination of barriers to diverse participation in clinical trials” (Abreu & Abdul-Jabbar, 2022, para. 2).
Introduced in the House of Representatives almost a year ago, it does not have many cosponsors yet. However, it is related to HEAA because both seek to promote the same congressional measures.
More precisely, the NIH Clinical Trial Diversity Act finds it essential to increase diverse representation in clinical trials to achieve equity and eliminate cases of sponsors denying a person participation based on their race. It also seeks to support HEAA’s initiative related to transparent and more detailed data reporting (Collins & Menendez, 2022). Abreu and Abdul-Jabbar (2022) state, “The bill requires that the sponsor of a clinical trial annually share demographic data of its clinical trial participants with the NIH including with sufficient detail reflecting race, ethnicity, age, and sex” (para. 3). Accordingly, when regulated more closely, clinical organizations will have to make their trials more inclusive and diverse, and all people will receive an opportunity to take part.
The Change that Needs to Be Made
Eventually, it is essential to refer the research on the two legislations to the proposed medical field change. To achieve secure nationwide results, macro policy advocacy has to solve healthcare inequalities, but specific issues may prevent policymakers from identifying the most pressing concerns and discrimination factors. Therefore, since the Health Equity and Accountability Act and the NIH Clinical Trial Diversity Act focus on transparent and detailed data reporting, this is the change to introduce. Information that includes various key factors, such as race, gender, sex, age, and others, will help policymakers and medical providers stay informed and base their decisions on the frequently updated reporting to make healthcare more equitable.
Annotated Bibliography
Abreu, S., & Abdul-Jabbar, M. (2022). Proposed bill promotes health equity through focus on clinical trial diversity. Web.
This article is published on a credible website that offers reports prepared by national newspapers and other media. The authors of the writing are professionals working in a law firm, and they are interested in promoting the bill and giving rise to health equity. It is possible to trust the resource because it is credible and mentions information similar to Collins and Menendez (2022). The authors agree that this legislation is needed because data reporting transparency is lacking, which supports the change.
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum [APIAHF]. (2022). Health Equity and Accountability Act will create a more equitable health care system. Web.
The APIAHF is a trustworthy official organization, so there is no need to doubt the adequacy of the provided information. This health advocacy forum advocates for the rights of ethnic minorities, so it finds it essential to promote the legislation and explain the value of HEAA. The president and CEO of the APIAHF issued a statement supporting the act, which secures the need for change.
Bode, H. (2022). A new bill to address health disparities: the Health Equity and Accountability Act. Web.
Considering that the article is published by an official organization and the author has more than thirty years of experience, it is a trustworthy and relevant source of information. The author says HEAA “will increase research into kidney disease in communities of color, encouraging the inclusion of more people of color in clinical trials and focusing on data sharing,” which proves the need to implement the proposed change (Bode, 2022, para. 5).
Collins, S., & Menendez, B. (2022). Collins, Menendez introduce bipartisan bill to ensure diversity in NIH clinical trials. Web.
Published on the official website of Senator Susan Collins, who introduced this bill with another senator, this article is a valuable source of information, and there is no reason to doubt its credibility. The reasons for the bill’s enactment are mentioned in the writing, and the key principles of the NIH Clinical Trial Diversity Act are also clearly outlined. This text can be used as a primary source when discussing the change because it identifies a lack of data transparency.