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.
Did you suffer property damage or home loss from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, or Maria? You can partake in a special enrollment period for those in Medicare or who need healthcare, thanks to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This gives hurricane victims the chance to change their Medicare health plans and get health coverage. That includes Texas (38.42% Latino population), Louisiana (4.72%), Florida (23.72%), Georgia (9.15%), South Carolina (5.32%), Puerto Rico (99%), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (17.13%). “The lives of millions of Americans have been disrupted and impacted in some way by recent hurricanes,” said CMS leader Seema Verma in a news release. “Setting up special enrollment periods gives … the opportunity to access health coverage during this ...
California is implementing new standards for teaching science to spark Latinos and African American grade-school students' interest and boost test scores, EdSource reports. The new standards have more hands-on science projects, updated scientific and technological research, feature different fields of science, with less rote memorization. They even recently released a parent's guide in Spanish to explain the changes. The new standards, called the Next Generation Science Standards, offer guidelines for teachers on how to reach students who are English language learners, come from economically disadvantaged homes, are racial/ethnic minorities, or who are otherwise from demographic groups “underrepresented in the science fields.” The hope is that in California, where about ...
Hey, city leader... Are your policies and programs equitable for Latinos, Blacks, and other minorities? Fortunately, a new tool helps local governments add an "equity lens" to involve the community and create policies and programs that account for racial/ethnic minorities. The tool, Racial Equity: Getting to Results from the Government Alliance on Race and Equality, enhances the Results-Based Accountability (RBA) methodology to empower policymakers to make “good decisions and advance racial equity.” “Currently across the country, regardless of region, racial inequities exist across every indicator for success—including health, criminal justice, education, jobs, housing, and beyond,” according to the new tool. “We know these inequities are incongruent with our ...
We're excited to continue celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15! Latinos are the country’s largest racial and ethnic minority group, as currently 1 in every 6 people in the U.S. is of Hispanic descent. By the year 2035, that number is expected to reach 1 in every 4; by 2060, 1 in 3. Latinos are becoming a true powerhouse in the country in economics, education, and culture. However, despite this dynamic growth, Latinos face barriers to high-quality health care and support services. Latinos also suffer higher rates of obesity and other health disparities than their peers. What are these barriers and, more importantly, what can be done to remove them? Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, October 3, to tweet about the issues, discuss solutions, and share ...
Many Latino families will get health-boosting "home visits" thanks to $352 million in new federal funding. The Maternal Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV Program) by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will award $352 million to 55 groups across the country. The groups will visit the homes of at-need families to bring health, social, and early childhood development services to improve family health and enable new opportunities for their children. “Evidence-based home visiting programs help children get off to a better, healthier start,” said Dr. George Sigounas, HRSA administrator, in a press release. “[These] awards allow states to support local agencies in providing home visiting services that meet the needs of families in ...
Latino kids and adults experienced historic increases in healthcare coverage when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded the amount of resources to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). But CHIP is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2017. Fortunately, good news is on the horizon for CHIP and kids. The U.S. Senate recently announced a bipartisan deal for funding to extend the “life” of the program, The New York Times reports. The new agreement would fund CHIP for an additional five years. Bill Frist, a Forbes contributor and former legislator, urged legislators to finalize the extension. "Healthier children. A more productive workforce. Less financial ruin for working families," Frist said of the benefits of CHIP.
The impact of CHIP
CHIP was ...
Two majority-Latino communities are among the eight winners of this year's Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize. Chelsea, MA (62% Latino) and San Pablo, CA (55% Latino) were chosen from 200 applicants along with Algoma, WI, Allen County, KS, Garrett County, MD, Richmond VA, Vicksburg, MS, the Seneca Nation of Indians in Western New York. These communities made strong efforts to ensure their residents have the opportunity to live healthier lives. Winning communities get a $25,000 prize and will have their inspiring stories shared by RWJF. “For the past five years, RWJF Culture of Health Prize communities have inspired hope across the country,” said Dr. Richard Besser, RWJF President and CEO in a news release. “We welcome these eight new prize ...
Too often, a lack of healthcare coverage forces Latinos into the emergency room for non-emergency healthcare. Now, thanks to a new grant, the Center for Healthy Neighborhoods at California State University-Fullerton (CSUF) will create a promotores program to help local Latino families avoid unnecessary ER trips, according to The Orange County Register.
Why are ER trips an issue?
The community in Fullerton, Calif. (35.24% Latino population), faces numerous obstacles that prevent them from obtaining quality health care, which leads to extremely high rates of preventable ER visits, according to Kaiser Health Foundation-Anaheim. These obstacles include being “linguistically isolated,” lacking awareness, and affordability.
How the new program will reduce ER trips
The $40,000 ...
Happy #HispanicHeritageMonth! We're excited to celebrate Latinos, the largest racial/ethnic minority in the country, and highlight causes for health concerns and how to overcome them. For example nearly 40% of U.S. Latino kids are overweight or obese. These are higher rates than both white and black children, and places a big burden on the current and future state of Latino health. The good news is that healthy weight for healthy kids is an achievable goal. Use #SaludTues on Sept. 19, 2017, to tweet with us as we explore how to improve the health of Latino kids in schools and communities! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: Healthy Weight & Healthy Kids
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
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