The State of Black Health: A Congressional Black Caucus Assessment During National Minority Health Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Payne, for the leadership that he provides, and I am delighted to be here with my colleagues as we talk about one of the most pernicious problems that exists in our country, and that is the tremendous disparity that exists among minorities--African Americans, Latinas, and Native Americans--when it comes to health and health care.

Millions of racial and ethnic minorities have been and continue to be disproportionately suffering. Health disparities among minorities have been neglected for many decades in this Nation, and as a result, millions of racial and ethnic minority Americans continue to lack access to reliable and quality health care. They are often suffering more from comorbidities and poor health outcomes and are more likely to die prematurely from preventible causes compared to their white counterparts.

Examples of these pervasive health disparities include the following:

The infant mortality rate for African Americans and American Indian/Alaska Natives are more than two times higher than that for whites;

African Americans with heart disease are three times more likely to be operated on by high-risk surgeons than their white counterparts with heart disease;

Hispanic Latina women have the highest incidence rate for cancers of the cervix, 1.6 times higher than that for white women, with a cervical cancer death rate that is 1.4 times higher than for white women;

Puerto Ricans have an asthma prevalence rate over 2.2 times higher than non-Hispanic whites, and over 1.8 times higher than non-Hispanic blacks;

Together, African Americans and Hispanics account for 27 percent of the total U.S. population yet account for 62 percent of all new HIV infections;

American Indian/Alaska Natives have diabetes rates that are nearly three times higher than the overall rate;

Of the more than 1 million people infected with chronic hepatitis B in the United States, half are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Of course, one of the bright spots in healthcare delivery in this Nation now is the Affordable Care Act. Minorities make up about 30 percent of the population but are 50 percent of the uninsured. Currently, the ACA, since its enactment, has allowed health insurance coverage for 16.4 million Americans who were not insured prior to this law.

Another bright spot is community health centers, which are celebrating their 50th year. The first of these centers was actually approved and funded, the first one being a project between Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, and Bolivar County, Mississippi. It was called the Tufts-Delta Project. Since that time, they now are providing quality health care to more than 23 million low- and moderate-income individuals throughout the Nation.

Of course, one of the great needs is the need for health education and the recognition that, as people learn how to better care for themselves and to make more effective use of the resources that are available, not only do we save money, but we also save lives.

I was amazed, as people spoke against the Affordable Care Act, where, for the first time in their lives, many individuals were going to have access to a regular primary care physician so they didn't have to go to the emergency room of hospitals and get what is called episodic care. So while the disparities are great, we know that progress is perhaps even greater.

I end with being at a church just the other day where we were having something called organ transplant Sunday, and the minister of this particular church had had two heart transplants and a kidney transplant. He preached every Sunday and owned a construction company that he ran. That is why we need to make sure that we put adequate resources into research and the funding of new approaches and new techniques.

I want to thank my colleagues for this evening, for the opportunity to talk about not only the great needs, but also to talk about some of the progress that is being made.

I thank the gentleman from New Jersey, my colleague, Mr. Payne.

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