HHS Final Standards for Collection on Race, Ethnicity, Sex, Primary Language, and Disability Status
October 31, 2011
"Final standards for data collection on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and disability status, as required by Section 4302 of the Affordable Care Act," from the Department of Health and Human Services. "The law requires that data collection standards for these measures be used, to the extent practicable, in all national population health surveys. They will apply to self-reported information only. The law also requires any data standards published by HHS comply with standards created by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Proposed standards were published on June 29, 2011, and public comments were accepted until August 1, 2011. The standards... apply to population health surveys sponsored by HHS, where respondents either self-report information or a knowledgeable person responds for all members of a household. HHS will begin implementation of these new data standards in all new surveys and at the time of major revisions to current surveys."
HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
October 31, 2011
Document from the Department of Health and Human Services that "provides a brief overview of racial and ethnic health disparities and unveils a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities ('HHS Disparities Action Plan')." The HHS Disparities Action Plan "builds upon the Affordable Care Act....The Affordable Care Act not only includes provisions related broadly to health insurance coverage, health insurance reform, and access to care, but also provisions related to disparities reduction, data collection and reporting, quality improvement, and prevention. The Affordable Care Act will also reduce health disparities by investing in prevention and wellness, and giving individuals and families more control over their own care. Appendix A provides additional details on the provisions that will affect health disparities. Two important initiatives mandated by the Affordable Care Act are the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care, which will include priorities to improve the delivery of health care, and the National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy, which aims to bring prevention and wellness to the forefront of national policy."