Oral

If racial and ethnic minorities are among the most vulnerable in a market-driven health care, how can civil rights principles be used to overcome fragmentation, strengthen public accountability, and serve as a countervailing influence on market forces in the health care delivery system? To answer this question, we will (1) present an overview of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that transformed the “separate but equal” policy, but failed to operationalize nondiscrimination standards throughout the health care system; (2) describe how health care regulations were used to desegregate hospitals to qualify for Medicare funding, but failed to be incorporated into a planning mechanism, like the Health Systems Agencies in the 1970s, to address health disparities throughout the health care system; (3) contrast how Title VI and the ADA have been interpreted by the courts to ensure equal access to health care for racial and ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities, in proposing a strategy for incorporating nondiscrimination principles into health care regulations that could strengthen the capacity of the health care system to function “as a system” at the community level; and (4) describe the functioning of a Center for Health Equity and Social Justice within a local health department to address disparities in health care and health status at the community level. Our theme is the application of civil rights concepts to regulatory authority in the health care delivery system so that the total population can be served in the most efficient, effective, and equitable way.

Session Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1. Recognize how civil rights laws and regulations have been applied to health care for protected groups such as racial and ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities in order to ensure equal treatment. 2. Analyze the barriers to addressing disparate treatment through civil rights regulatory authority in fragmented market-driven health care system. 3. Develop strategy for applying civil rights concepts of nondiscrimination to regulatory authority in health care delivery at the federal, state, and community levels so that the total population within a geographical area can be served in the most efficient, effective, and equitable way.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing