Eric Moreno is a Content Curator with the Salud America! program at UT Health San Antonio. He specializes in covering the topics of health equity and family and social support. He holds a BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MA from Gonzaga University.
Starting in May 2016, California will become the fifth state in the nation to allow children from undocumented, low-income families to obtain comprehensive healthcare. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation in October that will allow over 170,000 children to transition from limited or restricted care to full coverage. This includes removing barriers to re-applying and re-enrolling. “When I began the effort to expand healthcare coverage for undocumented Californians, many people said it couldn’t get done,” said Sen. Ricardo Lara. “Just a year later, we are covering all undocumented children, becoming the largest state to do so.” The governor’s office allocated $40 million for healthcare coverage for undocumented children through the Health for All Kids program. This program ...
A study released by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine found that minorities, especially Latinos, have longer wait times obtaining medical care than whites. On average, the wait time is 25% longer than whites at 105 minutes. While Latinos and whites spend the same time in face-to-face interaction with their doctors, they do have an average of 10 minutes longer to travel to their appointments. "It could be bias, conscious or unconscious, on the part of providers, or other staff that work at the site where they're receiving care," said Alexander Green, associate director of the disparities solution center at Massachusetts General Hospital. "Wait times are something very subjective, in that it could be any number of reasons it might seem justified in ...
Efforts to reduce health disparities among Latinos received a boost as $23.5 million was awarded for two new studies. Research teams from the University of Alabama and Johns Hopkins University were selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The two studies will compare ways to improve blood pressure and close the health disparities gaps experienced by Latinos. Previous research has rarely targeted these high-risk populations. “Even as health outcomes associated with blood pressure control have improved nationwide, striking disparities remain among racial and ethnic minorities, low-income individuals and rural residents,” said Dr. Romana Hanain-Wynia, Director of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Addressing Disparities Program. “This suggests ...
A webinar was held on September 30 that revealed the equity data for the 100 largest cities in the United States. Many city leaders are facing new economic revivals; however this has not translated into better jobs, living wages, and ownership opportunities for Latinos and other minorities. City leaders face an urgent need to create policies and strategies to combat the deepening inequity problems. The webinar was co-sponsored by PolicyLink and the University of Southern California (USC) Program for Environmental & Regional Equity. Understanding the state of equity in cities is key to eliminating racial and ethnic disparities. The National Equity Atlas has been expanded to include data broken up by race, nationality, and income for the 100 largest cities in America. This tool ...
As of the 2011 census, there are over 25 million people in the United States had limited English proficiency. This includes people born outside and inside the United States. Spanish is still the most spoken language in the U.S. after English. There is also an increase in other non-English languages and the U.S. is seeing a great movement towards diversification. This population shift has greatly impacted health equity and health literacy. There is literally a lack of ability to effectively communicate health care ideas and strategies to many of the patients who need the information the most. One strategy formed to address this issue has been translating health materials used by healthcare providers. While this seems on the surface a simple solution, the issue is not as ...
The National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) is hosting a virtual conference from October 13-16 with the topic being “Educating the Latino Community on the Affordable Care Act.” The goal of the conference is to educate nurses, students, healthcare professionals, and anyone else interested in educating Latinos on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The training module component will help prepare attendees that deal with Latino patients on a regular basis educate Latinos on the fundamentals of the ACA. This will include assisting them on applying for coverage through their state’s Medicaid site, through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Attendees will be able to connect the importance of health ...
With next phase of open enrollment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) scheduled to take place from November 1 through January 31, and the current administration is focusing efforts to expand health coverage to the uninsured in Dallas, Houston, New Jersey, Chicago, and Miami. “Overall, this open enrollment period is going to be tougher than last year,” said Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services. “With our economy improving, more people can get coverage under employer plans.” While many have taken advantage of enrollment already, the administration will focus on 10.5 million uninsured Americans who were eligible through the public insurance exchanges. The Congressional Budget Office predicted in March of this year that enrollment through the exchanges would ...
The Albert Shanker Institute released a report on the state of teacher diversity in the United States. Nationally, progress towards greater diversity is being made, however there is still a large need for minority teachers. The report studied nine cities: Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The report found there were some pockets of development, but overall there was a lack of progress. “Diversity is a key component to equality and opportunity,” said Randi Weingarten, Shanker Institute Board President. “Where there’s a diverse teaching workforce, all kids thrive. [We] are calling for a national summit on teacher diversity in urban areas.” One of the key findings of the report determined that, ...
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease (NIAMS) has launched a new Spanish-language website that provides free health information on conditions of the bones, joints, muscles, and skin. “Many diseases in our scientific portfolio, including lupus, arthritis, and osteoporosis have profoundly negative effects among Latinos … in terms of prevalence and poor health outcomes,” said NIAMS Director Dr. Stephen Katz. “We are committed to providing quality health information to all people, no matter what language they speak or what culture they identify with.” The new site features easy-to-use navigation tools to help Spanish-speaking individuals identify and locate NIAMS health topics. Some of the features offered include improved access to NIAMS ...
