271715 Role of United States Department of Health & Human Services

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 8:38 AM - 8:52 AM

Howard Koh, MD, MPH , Assistant Secretary for Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is committed to accelerating national work on addressing and reducing health disparities. As we continue to move forward toward health equity, everyone recognizes that this has truly been a year of unprecedented opportunity.

· In April 2011, HHS launched the first-ever HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, which outlines goals and actions HHS will take to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities.

· Additionally, HHS released last year the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity, a road map for eliminating health disparities through cooperative and strategic actions across the administration and with public and private partners.

· The Affordable Care Act addresses the needs of minority populations and other underserved groups by:

o Working to bring down health care costs, o Expanding access to care, investing in prevention, and o Supporting improvements in primary care and Medicare.

This presentation will provide updates on all these commitments.

Learning Areas:
Administration, management, leadership
Diversity and culture
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

Learning Objectives:
1. List the goals of the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities. 2. Identify the strategic actions of the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity 3. Discuss how the Affordable Care Act addresses the needs of minority populations and other underserved groups.

Keywords: Federal Initiatives, Leadership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the US HHS Assistant Secretary for Health responsible for overseeing 14 core public health offices, including the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, 10 Regional Health Offices across the nation, and 10 Presidential and Secretarial advisory committees. I was the Fineberg Professor of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health and published more than 200 medical and public health articles.
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.

Back to: 3013.0: Health Equity: Are We Making Progress? (co-organized by APHA-Equal Health Opportunity Committee, APHA-Committee on Women's Rights, American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Caucus, Asian Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health, Black Caucus of Health Workers, Community Health Planning & Policy Development, Community Health Workers, Disability, HIV/AIDS, Latino Caucus, LGBT Caucus of Public Health Professionals, Medical Care, Oral Health, Women's Caucus)