Chapter 172
2011 -- S 0481 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 06/30/11
A N A C T
RELATING TO
HEALTH AND SAFETY - COMMISSION FOR HEALTH ADVOCACY AND EQUITY
Introduced By: Senators Pichardo, DiPalma, Metts, Jabour, and Nesselbush
Date Introduced: March 10, 2011
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Legislative Findings.-
WHEREAS, Public health
pursues its mission of ensuring conditions in which people can
be healthy in conjunction with a vast array of
governmental, academic, and community partners;
and
WHEREAS, Where we live affects the quality of air we breathe, our
access to good
paying jobs, decent housing, the quality of our education,
the availability of healthy foods and all
these factors determine whether or not an individual is
able to live a healthy life; and
WHEREAS,
health and well-being of a number of populations with the
greatest burden borne by minority
populations but also affects those not considered vulnerable; and
WHEREAS, Underlying social disparities also impact the health of
rural communities in
WHEREAS, The department of health has made strides to address health
equity and the
elimination of health disparities by coordinating work within its
own departmental divisions with
the formation of the division of community, family
health, and equity; and
WHEREAS, The department of health and many programs have a laudable
record of
taking action in favor of eliminating health disparities and
addressing health equity; and
WHEREAS, Rhode Island,
where disparities remain similar or worse than many other
states across the nation despite better access to health
insurance, numerous hospitals, community
health centers, health programs and efforts; and
WHEREAS, The problem of disparities are extensive and impact all
state departments
and their functions and issues but the responsibility for
addressing health disparities has been led
by the department of health; and
WHEREAS, There is a need
to coordinate the expertise and experience of not only the
state’s health and human services systems, but also its
housing, transportation, education,
environment, community development and labor systems in
developing a sustainable and
comprehensive health equity plan;
THEREFORE, The general assembly finds and declares that it is in the
best interests of
the state to establish a commission of health advocacy
and equity.
SECTION 2. Title 23 of the General Laws entitled
"HEALTH AND SAFETY" is hereby
amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER 23-64.1
COMMISSION FOR HEALTH ADVOCACY AND EQUITY
23-64.1-1.
Short title. -- This chapter shall be known and
may be cited as the
“Commission for Health Advocacy
and Equity Act.”
23-64.1-2.
Definitions. -- As used in this chapter, the
following words and phrases have
the following meanings:
(1) “Community-based
health agency” means an organization that provides health
services or health education, including a hospital, a community
health center, a community
mental health or substance abuse center, and other
health-related organizations.
(2) “Community-based
health and wellness organization” means any organization,
whether for-profit or not-for-profit that provides services
that support the health and well-being of
Rhode Islanders.
(3) “Disparities”
means the preventable inequalities in health status, including the
incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and
other adverse health conditions that
exist among population groups in
of health which include, but are not limited to, access
to services, quality of services, health
behaviors, and environmental exposures.
(4) "Community
health worker" means any individual who assists and coordinates
services between providers of health services, community
services, social agencies for vulnerable
populations. Community health workers provide support and assist
in navigating the health and
social services system.
(5) “Commission”
means the commission of health advocacy and equity; formerly
entitled the minority health advisory committee.
23-64.1-3.
Renaming and Establishment. -- (a) The minority health advisory committee
established by the
hereby renamed the commission for health advocacy and
equity. The director of the department
of health shall appoint twenty (20) individuals who
shall be individuals with working and
practical knowledge of social determinants of health, the
majority of whom shall be
representatives of the racial and ethnic minority population of the
State of
more than fifteen percent (15%) of the members shall be
affiliates with a grantee of the office of
minority health of the department of health. Members shall be
authorized to appoint a designee.
The director may also appoint staff of the department
as ex officio members of the committee to
serve as a liaison between the committee and their specific
departmental programs. Such ex
officio members shall not be counted for the purpose of
determining a quorum and shall not be
eligible to vote.
(b) Commission
members shall serve without compensation and shall be appointed for a
term of three (3) years. Commission members may be
reappointed for an additional three (3) year
term provided that no member shall serve more than two (2)
consecutive terms, regardless of the
total number of years served, or a maximum of six (6)
consecutive years, after which an
individual shall be ineligible for membership for a period of
one year.
(c) The terms of
current members of the department’s minority health advisory
committee, renamed the commission for health advocacy and
equity by this section, shall remain
in effect upon passage and shall not be impacted by any
provision of this section.
23-64.1-4.
Purpose. -- (a) The
purpose of the commission for health advocacy and equity
shall be:
(1) To advocate for
the integration of all relevant activities of the state to achieve health
equity;
(2) To provide direct
advice to the director of health, and indirect advice to the
department’s senior administrators and planners through the
director, regarding issues of racial,
ethnic, cultural, or socio-economic health disparities;
(3) To develop and
facilitate coordination of the expertise and experience of the state’s
health and human services systems, housing, transportation,
education, environment, community
development, and labor systems in developing a comprehensive
health equity plan addressing the
social determinants of health;
(4) To set goals for
health equity and prepare a plan for
equity in alignment with any other statewide planning
activities; and
(5) to educate state agencies in
play a role in creating or maintaining disparities.
(b) In furtherance of
this purpose, the commission shall study the range of issues that may
impact an individual’s, family's or community's health and propose
recommendations to address
these issues and ensure quality integration and evaluation
of any program or policy designed to
reduce or eliminate racial or ethnic health disparities.
Such recommendations may be developed
with input from other agencies and the resulting plan
shall be broadly disseminated as advisory to
other state agencies.
23-64.1-5.
Powers and Duties. -- (a) The
commission shall be empowered to:
(1) Review and
comment on any proposed state legislation and regulations that would
affect the health of populations in the state experiencing
racial, ethnic, cultural, socio-economic
or linguistic disparities in health status;
(2) Educate
appropriate state agencies on health disparities, including social factors that
play a role in creating or maintaining these disparities;
(3) Advise the
director of the department of health on issues relating to health disparities
and advocate for the integration and coordination of all
activities of the state to achieve health
equity. In providing such advice, the commission shall carry
on a continuous assessment process
to:
(i)
Determine the current health status among populations experiencing racial,
ethnic,
cultural, or socio-economic health disparities;
(ii) Recommend
strategies for health promotion and disease prevention;
(iii) Identify
problems in service delivery to populations experiencing racial, ethnic,
cultural, or socio-economic health disparities; and
(iv)
Recommend solutions for improving the operation and efficiency of
service delivery
programs targeting populations experiencing racial, ethnic,
cultural, or socio-economic health
disparities;
(4) Advise and
provide information to the governor and the general assembly on the
state's policies concerning the health of populations in the
state experiencing racial, ethnic,
cultural, socio-economic or linguistic disparities in health
status;
(5) Evaluate
policies, procedures, activities, and resource allocations to eliminate health
status disparities among racial, ethnic and linguistic
populations in the state;
(6) Explore other
successful programs in other sectors and states that may diminish or
contribute to the elimination of health disparities in the
state;
(7) Draft and
recommend proposed legislation, regulations and other policies designed to
address disparities in health status;
(8) Prepare the biennial disparities impact and evaluation
report pursuant to section 23-
64.1-6; and,
(9) Have the
authority to conduct hearings and interviews, and receive testimony
regarding matters pertinent to its mission.
(b) All departments
and agencies of the state shall furnish such advice and information,
documentary and otherwise, to said commission and its agents as
is deemed necessary or
desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this
section.
23-64.1-6.
Disparities impact and evaluation report. -- (a) Beginning two (2)
years
after establishment of the commission, and every two (2)
years after, the commission shall
prepare a disparities impact and evaluation report which
shall be posted on the department of
health website and the website of the executive office of
health and human services, and which
shall be delivered to the governor, the speaker of the
house, and the president of the senate. The
report shall:
(1) Evaluate the
likely positive or negative impact of programs, policies and activities
established pursuant to section 23-64.1-4 as they relate to
eliminating or reducing health
disparities, based on quantifiable measures and evaluation
benchmarks.
(2) Evaluate the
state's progress toward eliminating or reducing racial and ethnic health
disparities using the quantifiable measures and benchmarks
outlined in subdivision (1).
(b) The commission
shall hold public hearings to receive information to assist in the
formation of this disparities impact and evaluation report. The
hearings shall be held
approximately six (6) months before each yearly evaluation.
23-64.1-7. Race,
ethnicity, social determinants of health and language data collection
coordination. -- The commission shall, in consultation with the
department of health and other
appropriate state agencies, make recommendations for data
collection, analysis and dissemination
activities by all entities involved in the collection of patient
and health care professional
information. The commission shall make recommendations for the
coordination by the
department of health, other agencies, organizations and institutions
as needed to design and
implement a training curriculum for primary data collectors and
disseminate best practices for
collection of race, ethnicity, social determinants of health and
language data.
23-64.1-8.
Health workforce diversity and development. -- The
commission shall
make recommendations for the coordination of state, local
and private sector efforts to develop a
more racially and ethnically diverse health care
workforce. Such recommendations shall include
the evaluation and development of the community health
workforce. The commission may make
recommendations for the recruitment, assignment, training and
employment of community health
workers by community-based health and wellness organizations,
community-based health
agencies, and other appropriate organizations. Community health
workers are individuals who
have direct knowledge of the communities they serve, and
of the social determinants of health,
and can assess the range of issues that may impact an
individual's, a family's or a community's
health and may facilitate improved individual and community
well-being and should include, but
not be limited to:
(1) Linking with
services for legal challenges to unsafe housing conditions;
(2) Advocating with
various state and local agencies to ensure that the individual/family
receives appropriate benefits/services;
(3) Advocating for
the individual/family within the health care system. This could be
done in multiple settings (community-based organization,
health care setting, legal service
setting);
(4) Connecting the
individual or family with the appropriate services/advocacy support to
address those issues such as:
(i)
Assisting in the application for public benefits to increase income and access
to food
and services;
(ii) Working with
community-based health agencies and organizations in assisting
individuals who are at-risk for or who have chronic diseases to
receive better access to high-
quality health care services;
(iii) Anticipating,
identifying and helping patients to overcome barriers within the health
care system to ensure prompt diagnostic and treatment
resolution of an abnormal finding; and
(iv)
Coordinating with the relevant health programs to provide
information to individuals
about health coverage, including RItecare
and other sources of health coverage;
(5) Assisting the
department of health, other agencies, health clinics, healthcare
organizations, community clinics and their providers to implement
and promote culturally
competent care, effective language access policies, practices
and disseminate best practices to
state agencies;
(6) Training of
health care providers to help patients/families access appropriate services,
including social services, legal services and educational
services.
(7) Advocating for
solutions to the challenges and barriers to health that a community
may face.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01595/SUB A
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