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REMARKS BY:

TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

PLACE:

League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), San Antonio

DATE:

July 8, 2004

Overcoming Hispanic Health Challenges

Thank you, Dr. Beato, for that kind introduction. And thank you for chairing the HHS Council on Health Disparities, and for the great work you do as Acting Assistant Secretary for Health. (Dr. Cristina Beato, Acting ASH).

I'm lucky that President Bush appointed outstanding Hispanics to head three of the agencies in my Department. As Cristi just mentioned, Richard Carmona and Josefina Carbonell are among the many HHS staff attending this LULAC conference.

I would like to thank Hector Flores for inviting me to address you this morning. And I'm pleased that you'll be hearing from President Bush after lunch.

LULAC has served the Hispanic community proudly for decades. And rather than resting on your past achievements, you adjust to focus on the best ways you can help your community in any given era.

I want the federal government to share in the skills and talents you attract to your conventions. That's why my Department has launched an aggressive summer recruitment campaign to reach out to Hispanics in cities across America. And we're hoping to hire people at this convention, including medical officers, nurses, pharmacists, health insurance specialists, economists, and actuaries. We're interviewing downstairs at booths 361 and 367 and are prepared to make job offers on the spot for more than 100 professional jobs, from entry through senior level. I hope you will check us out.

Of course, there's no better place to find great Latino talent than San Antonio. And while I'm here, I'd like to point out that my Department is making incubator grants to two clinics in San Antonio to develop and expand health care services to low-income and uninsured Texans.

  • $254,900 to Community Clinic, Inc.
  • $100,000 to El Centro Del Barrio

And last month I announced another grant for El Centro Del Barrio of more than half a million dollars. This was one of 45 grants totaling $23 million to help communities provide outpatient and primary care services for low-income and medically underserved Americans who are living with HIV or AIDS or are at risk for contracting the virus.

But AIDS is only one of many challenges Hispanics face. I'd like to talk to you this morning about several of the most pressing health and social concerns of Latinos. I'll tell you what my Department is doing about them, and how you can help. From helping at-risk youth get a good healthy foundation with Head Start, to keeping seniors healthy with discounted medicines through new Medicare benefits, and caring for those with Alzheimer's, we are working to improve the health of Hispanics of all ages.

As you all know, the first years of life are critical to the physical, cognitive, and emotional development of children. It's much easier to develop skills and capacities early rather than trying to remediate later. That's why we encourage mothers to consider breastfeeding. That's why we explain to parents the importance of speaking to babies and preparing children to read. And that's why we're working to strengthen Head Start and focus on achieving results: healthier, better-adjusted children with more advanced early cognitive development. More than thirty percent of children enrolled in Head Start are Latino, and we want to make sure they…and all children in Head Start…get the best foundation they can for their future development.

We also want to increase access to Head Start. And our HHS management initiative has helped us identify funds that will allow us to serve thousands of additional children across the country.

Of course, nothing is more important for the healthy development of children than loving parents in stable, healthy marriages. Tonight in Dallas we will be announcing our new Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative, which will promote healthy marriages and reach nearly 39 million Hispanics.

At HHS, we're always looking for new and better ways to meet the health needs of all Americans, especially including Latinos. We're committed to addressing disparities in health and treatment, increasing access to health care and medical information, and promoting preventive health.

You here are well aware that many diseases strike Hispanics at different rates from other ethnic groups. For example:

  • 15 percent of American children and teenagers are overweight. But among Latino pre-teens and early teens, the rate is 40 percent. And that rate has doubled in the last decade.

  • Overweight and obesity contribute to diabetes. And actuaries project that half of Latinos will eventually get diabetes, compared with one third of Americans overall. Of those over age twenty, 8.2 percent of Hispanics already have diabetes, but only 6.3 percent of the total population.

  • Latinos are almost three times more likely than Anglos to die from AIDS.

  • Hispanics over 65 are less likely than Anglos to be vaccinated against flu and pneumonia.

My Department measures these disparities, investigates their causes, and develops targeted solutions. Later this year, our HHS Council on Health Disparities will release a comprehensive Departmental Action Plan for Eliminating Health Disparities.

I can already tell you that one of the solutions will be to make healthier choices. Hispanic Americans, and all Americans of all income levels, have greater access to better health care than they've ever had. And the quality of health care gets better every year. But we're not nearly as healthy as we could be, and the solution starts with practicing better habits. Eating more nutritious food, exercising, not smoking, and avoiding risky behaviors are all essential.

We've launched some fun ads to help remind people how easy it easy to be healthy. I'd like to play them for you.

[obesity ads play]

That's good advice for all ages. But one group that needs extra help is our seniors.

Seniors are already saving money on prescription drugs thanks to the Medicare law Congress and the President gave us last year.

Medicare beneficiaries can now sign up for Medicare-approved drug discount cards that will put them on the road to savings and better health. These cards deliver the first wave of savings authorized by the Medicare Modernization Act that Congress passed in November and President Bush signed into law in December. Beneficiaries without prescription drug coverage can use these cards to save money on the medicines they need, until the full Medicare prescription drug benefit takes effect in January 2006.

And the savings are significant. There's no reason why seniors and people with disabilities should pass them up.

Lower-income Americans will save the most money. On top of the standard drug discounts, low-income Americans will receive an additional $1200 over the next eighteen months to defray the cost of their drugs-$600 in 2004 and another $600 in 2005. This is real savings for the people who need the most help. More than 7 million Americans will qualify for this generous benefit.

In addition to the $600 transitional assistance, several pharmaceutical manufacturers have joined with drug cards to offer "wrap around" programs that will provide many drugs for free or for a very small fee once low-income beneficiaries use all of their $600 credit.

In order to help seniors learn about and enroll in the new Medicare-approved drug discount card and transitional assistance program, I am pleased to announce a national outreach and education campaign. As part of this effort, the Administration on Aging and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are making available up to $3.7 million to community-based organizations to support outreach, education and enrollment activities targeted specifically at low-income beneficiaries.

One of the most serious diseases many seniors will face is Alzheimer's. As you know, the Alzheimer's Association predicts that 1.3 million Hispanics will have Alzheimer's disease by 2050. That's a 600 percent increase over today. More and more Hispanic families will confront for the first time the challenge of caring for a relative with this degenerative disease. And we're working to help them cope.

We recently gave grants to 14 state governments to continue serving families who cope with Alzheimer's disease. Today, I am pleased to announce $6.78 million in new grants to 23 states for similar work.

A quarter of the 37 state programs receiving these grants will specifically target Latino families, and many more reach out to multiple ethnic populations, including Latinos.

My friends, I know you share my goal of ensuring that American families are strong, healthy, and independent. And the more we can persuade our children and our neighbors to watch what they eat, get good exercise, and avoid risky behaviors, the healthier and happier they will be. Leading healthy lives prevents illness, saves money, gives us more energy, and improves our quality of life. So I challenge all of you to help me spread the word. Thank you.

Last Revised: July 15, 2004

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