NHEC - NHEC Speaks Out

NHEC Policy Advocacy:

The National Health Equity Coalition is aggressively working to inform and shape a wide range of federal policy areas that impact the health of racial and ethnic minorities and underserved communities, including health care, public health, transportation, housing, and the environment. NHEC is working to ensure policy is developed through a health equity lens and will support the building of healthy communities. Our current efforts are focused on ensuring health reform implementation prioritizes preventing, reducing and eliminating health disparities.

Call To Action:

NHEC Advocacy Toolkit
Your members of Congress need to hear that you support health reform. Download the NHEC Advocacy ToolKit to get tips and resources on different ways to reach out to your Senators, Representatives and the media. Take action and make your voice known!

What is the NHEC policy agenda? The following position papers have been developed by the NHEC:

Support for passing comprehensive health reform legislation
Letter to Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid in support of the legislation because it represents an enormous step forward towards preventing and reducing health disparities (March 19, 2010)
Response to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' letter
Letter to President Obama and Members of Congress in response to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' letter on workforce diversity provisions in the House health reform bill (November 2, 2009)
Support for Amendment to Codify the Office of Minority Health
Letter to Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) in support of his amendment to codify the HHS Office of Minority Health in the Senate health reform proposal (October 15, 2009)
Support for health disparities provisions in the House proposal
Sign-on letter to the House of Representatives in support of provisions included in the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200) that would prevent or reduce health disparities (October 9, 2009)
Support for health disparities provisions in the Senate proposals
Sign-on letter to the Senate in support of provisions included in the Affordable Health Choices Act (HELP Committee proposal) and the America's Healthy Futures Act (Finance Committee proposal) that would prevent or reduce health disparities (October 9, 2009)
Support for Including the Health Equity and Accountability Act in Health Reform
Letter to the chairs of House Committees on Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means urging their support for including critical provisions of the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009 in health reform legislation (July 1, 2009)
Health Equity Memo to the House Committees
Memo to the House Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor on specific provisions to include in health reform legislation to reduce health disparities (May 19, 2009)
Health Equity Principles - House
Sign-on letter to the House of Representatives delineating critical provisions that must be included in health reform legislation to eliminate health disparities (March 4, 2009)
Health Equity Principles - Senate
Sign-on letter to the Senate delineating critical provisions that must be included in health reform legislation to eliminate health disparities (March 4, 2009)
Letter to President Obama on Making the Elimination of Health Disparities a Priority
Sign-on letter to President Obama urging that he make the elimination of health disparities a top priority for his administration (January 29, 2009)
Creating More Equity in Health: A Comprehensive Approach to Health Reform
Position paper providing a national policy framework for achieving health equity (July 2008)

Call To Action:

Members’ active participation in the coalition is essential to our capacity. To stay informed and get involved in our advocacy campaigns, please join our email list.

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National Dialogue on Equity & Health:

The National Dialogue on Equity and Health, sponsored by NHEC, is a series of webinars designed to bring together advocates, interest groups, and public agencies in a cross-sector dialogue on policies that improve the health and socio-economic opportunities of racial and ethnic minorities.

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Meetings & Events

Seventh National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations—October 18-21, 2010 in Baltimore, MD

APHA’s 138th Annual Meeting—November 6-10, 2010 in Denver, CO

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Resources & Info
Downloand the Advocacy Toolkit

Useful Links

Health Reform Implementation Timeline
Courtesy of Premier Healthcare Alliance

Health Equity Provisions in the Health Reform Law
Courtesy of Premier Healthcare Alliance

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