Thursday, July 11, 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Opening Address: Josefina G. Carbonell, Assistant Secretary for Aging
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Plenary Session: "Access: Myths and Realities"
Health care in the U.S. is among the best in the world with astonishing technologies and new treatments that offer hope to all those fortunate enough to access them. However, people of color and other vulnerable populations including the underinsured and uninsured are more likely to experience health care barriers and to suffer from high rates of disease and early death. In its 2001 study, America's Health Care Safety Net: Intact, But Endangered, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported that certain populations continue to remain outside the medical and economic mainstream and have little or no access to stable health care coverage. These populations include the 44 million Americans who are uninsured, low-income, or underinsured individuals, Medicaid beneficiaries, and patients with special health care needs who rely on safety net providers for their care. Reasons cited for health disparities include differences in risk factors, lack of access to health care, inadequately targeted prevention messages, and cultural differences between the health care system and the populations it serves. Access is also influenced by characteristics of the delivery system such as the level and distribution of available resources, cost, provider characteristics and convenience, and by characteristics of the person seeking care such as family, income, education, insurance coverage, and socio-cultural attitudes.
Moderator: Josh Valdez, Secretary’s Regional Representative, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region IX, San Francisco, CA
Panelists:
Access to Care for Vulnerable Populations: What Do the Data Tell Us? - Marsha Lillie Blanton, Dr.P.H, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, DC.
Understanding and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care - Alan Nelson, M.D., Special Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer, American College of Physicians -- American Society of Internal Medicine, Fairfax, VA.
