244377 Using the ACA Implementation Process to Improve API Health in New England

Monday, October 31, 2011: 5:30 PM

Jacob Yang , Massachusetts Asians & Pacific Islanders for Health, Boston, MA
Jason A. Smith, MTS, JD , Division of Medical Humanities, Health Law & Ethics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT
Hepatitis B is a serious issue for API populations and represents a significant and pressing health disparity. Massachusetts Asian Pacific Islanders for Health (MAP) convened the New England Asian Health Improvement Coalition (NEAHIC) in 2010 with the technical assistance of the University of Connecticut Health Center. NEAHIC's goal was to create a six-state advocacy and policy group to take advantage of the implementation process of the Affordable Care Act in each New England state and to advocate for increased access to health care for API populations in New England to reduce the burden of Hepatitis B in the community. NEAHIC was designed to be a structural-level intervention targeting only legal reforms underway through the healthcare reform process and relying on the WHO RAR process to organize community efforts. The presentation will discuss the successes and failures of NEAHIC, its on-going activity as well as key lessons learned and the use of this model in other states. Key provisions of ACA relevant to API populations or amenable for advocacy will also be discussed.

Learning Areas:
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss the Affordable Care Act and its implications for API population health. 2. Design community-based multi-state policy advocacy organizations based on the WHO RAR framework. 3. Describe Hepatitis B and disparities in the API community.

Keywords: Asian and Pacific Islander, Health Law

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the project director for NEAHIC
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Advocacy and Policies for Change in Asian and Pacific Islander Communities
See more of: Asian Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health