National Hispanic Medical Association NHMA NET May 2012
Washington, DC

LEGISLATION UPDATE

The health-care case will be decided by June, but next fall the US Supreme Court will return, perhaps for the last time, to the subject of affirmative action in university admissions - Fisher v University of Texas.Abigail Fisher, a white high-school student in Sugar Land, Texas, was rejected for admission to the University of Texas-Austin. The state requires all students in the top ten per cent of their high-school classes to be admitted to state universities, but students who fall just short of that threshold, like Fisher, are admitted according to a formula; race is one factor in the equation. Fisher’s lawsuit is based on a claim that any consideration of race by a university in admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In 2003, the Supreme Court held, by a vote of five to four, that the University of Michigan Law School could consider race as one factor among many in determining whom to admit. In Grutter v. Bollinger, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said that diversity was such an important goal in American life that universities could engage in some level of race-consciousness in screening candidates. But O’Connor’s opinion imposed a time limit: “We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.”

Now, less than a decade after her ruling, the Court appears poised to throw it out.  Samuel A. Alito, Jr., who replaced O’Connor in 2006, has shown no sign of being receptive to any sort of racial preferences for minorities. (Chief Justice John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas appear to feel the same way.) In addition, Justice Elena Kagan—who would be expected to support the university’s admissions practices—has recused herself from the case, presumably because she worked on it as Solicitor General. That leaves only three Democratic appointees—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor—as likely votes in favor of affirmative action. In all, the possibility of a four-to-four vote, which would leave the Texas program intact, appears to rest with Anthony Kennedy, playing his familiar role as swing Justice. Kennedy has been hostile to affirmative action—for the most part. In the Grutter case, Kennedy wrote that a racial quota “can be the most divisive of all policies, containing within it the potential to destroy confidence in the Constitution and in the idea of equality.” Yet at the same time he said race might also play a role as a “modest factor among many others.” The courts will likely apply the resulting ruling at private schools as well. The case will also not deal directly with affirmative action in the workplace, but, again, the same standards will likely be applied in that context.

National Healthcare Disparities Report 2011 announced this month
Of all measures of health care quality and access that are tracked in the past NHDR reports, Hispanics had worse care than non-Hispanic Whites in the most recent year for 63 measures. Most of these measures showed no significant change in disparities over time. No measure showed worsening disparities.
For six measures, the gap between Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites grew smaller, indicating improvement.
 
Dr. Rios was invited to testify for Congressional Briefing on Infertility and Minority Patients on March 20^th ----for racial/ethnic couples interested in having families.
 
NHMA president was invited to special conference from National Institute of General Medical Sciences for stakeholders to discuss diversity planning for the next generation of the health research workforce. New focus will be on training, diversity and workforce development together and not as separate activities.
 
NHMA provided comments on the Second Stage of Meaningful Use for Electronic Medical Records – of note, we supported the mandate for data collection on race/ethnicity and primary language and the need for provider communication with patients using fact sheets, internet, Hispanic health portals.
 
NHMA participation in the Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes hosted by the HHS Office of Minority Health, CDC and the Merck Foundation - Connecting Community Experience and National Policy to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes. Ann Albright, PhD, RD, director, division of diabetes translation discussed the importance of diabetes focused efforts with health disparities; Eduardo Sanchez, MD, VP and Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and the Acting Director of OMH, Dr. Nadine Gracia, discussed the challenges for our minority communities to expand education and treatment programs to reduce diabetes. Recommendations from the meeting will be used to advance national diabetes policies.
 
NHMA PROGRAM UPDATE

PHYSICIAN LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION PROGRAM, funded by the Office of Minority Health - NHMA conducted its 3rd Leadership Institute for over 100 NHMA Medical Society and Health Professional Leadership Network Association boards of directors and other NHMA conference registrants at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Sunday, April 29th 8:30 am to 11:30 am  ---Speakers included the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, HHS, Dr. Nadine Gracia and NHMA national partners who are interested in supporting NHMA Regional Efforts in 2013 -  Teresa Nino, Director, CMS External Affairs; Arisa Cunningham, Vice President for Global Affairs, Johnson & Johnson; Russell Bennett, Director, United Health Care Latino Solutions, Dr. Portillo, Medical Director, Amerigroup, Inc.; Michael Happe, DrFirst.  All shared their programs to reduce health disparities and welcomed NHMA network participation at the regional level.  
 
NEW NHMA CME Online Program– We have started this program to provide lectures on topics related to improving healthcare for Latino patients. You can find the CME program on our website, www.nhmamd.org under Resources for Physicians.  We are starting with two lectures on Obesity and on Diabetes. We will be uploading more lectures on Hispanic health from the NHMA 15^th and 16^th Annual Conferences.  CME being provided by Morehouse School of Medicine and will be offered Free to Members.

NHHF/NHMA Physician Early Child Obesity Campaign Project - NHMA’s Foundation, the National Hispanic Health Foundation, supported by the Kellogg Foundation is developing its communications system on its Portal and with its Media Advisory Committee and is planning STATE SUMMITS on Early Childhood Obesity Policy in Sacramento, California and New York City next February 2013. If interested in participating, call Astrid Jimenez at NHMA office – 202-628-5895. Space will be limited to physicians and health experts with knowledge on solutions to reduce early childhood (0 – 8 yrs old). Of note we will be collaborating with the US Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin and her focus on the Prevention Action Plan with our Summits.
 
New York Academy of Medicine Evaluation Teampresented results from E.Harlem and  Bronx parents’ focus groups on their communications with physicians reveals little to no discussion on nutrition or physical activity. Parents were very interested but had limited knowledge on teaching children on how to change behavior to reduce obesity, reducing screen time and increasing sleep time.
 
NHMA Speaker's Bureau focuses on various topics of Request from Breastfeeding Conference, to Women’s Health Radio Interview, to Immunization newspaper article to the importance of E-Health Technology with our partner, AT&T – Members, please call the office.

NHMA 16^th Annual Conference  ---“Innovations that Improve Health of Hispanics, Families and Communities.”  April 26-29, 2012, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC– was a great success thanks to all Sponsors/Participants:
US DHHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Opening Keynote Address on Friday Apr. 27^th - 
We are honored to have had Secretary Sebelius address the Obama Administration accomplishments on health care reform and other health programs that impact the Hispanic community. She applauded NHMA for our efforts to educate our leaders about the Health Care Reform and the need to promote more physicians to work in underserved areas. Minister of Health of Mexico, Migrant Health Director and PAHO Deputy Director addressed the importance of Immigrant Health in the US.
 
White House Briefing – and our Congressional Briefing both challenged NHMA to increase our participation in the Federal policy arena and in the local districts of elected officials to provide expert advice on how to make health care policies more responsive to Hispanics.  Of note, the White House interested in the review of the elimination of HCOP and COE from the president’s FY13 budget.
 
Interest Groups, Poster Sessions, Workshops----all increased in participation showing growing interest in the NHMA Opportunities for developing our physicians, others, students efforts to decrease health disparities in our communities.
 
NHMA Awards Gala – Apr.28^th – Keynote Speaker: Lorraine Cortez-Vazquez, Executive Vice President, AARP presented her challenge to NHMA to be leaders for our people especially through civic engagement.  Honorees:Ileana Arias, Deputy Director, CDC; John Boyer, Chairman, Maximus Foundation; Russell Bennett, Director, United Health Care Latino Solutions; Jaime Torres, DPM, Director HHS Region II (NHMA Fellow of the Year), Presidents, Hispanic Medical Societies and Health Professional Associations. Sponsored by Eli Lilly.
 
Conference Partners:US DHHS Office of Minority Health, US DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc, Otsuka, Novo Nordisk, MedCo, PhRMA, Amerigroup, California Healthcare Foundation, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, United Health Care, Astra Zeneca, Concerned Scientists, NY Academy of Medicine, National Hispanic Health Foundation, Morehouse School of Medicine and our Exhibitors and Advertisers (partial list)
 
Go to our NHMA Website (nhmamd.org) for upcoming CME online lectures from the conference through videos. Tell your colleagues about our conference - the only national conference dedicated to bringing together experts who provide care and oversee programs in Latino populations to share how to improve the health of Latinos across the nation.


NHMA is supported by the US Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to train Hispanic physicians and residents to become leaders for the nation.
 
NHMA Leadership Fellowship (The Class of 2012 - 10 physicians have been selected!)– had their Orientation in Washington, DC  in April to start learning about leadership skills for Federal policy development, advocacy for the safety net from the National Public Health and Hospitals and leadership career decisions from Priscilla Gonzalez-Leiva, RN, former California State government leader and. This is an executive leadership training in collaboration with the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service Leadership Center and the NY Academy of Medicine.
 
NHMA Resident Leadership Program (The Class of 2012 - 20 residents have been selected!) had their Orientation in Washington, DC in April to start learning about the importance of Health Resources and Services Administration from the HRSA Region II medical officer, Tanya Raggio Pagan, MD, the history of NHMA from Elena Rios, MD, the basics of Federal policy making from Brian Elbel, PhD, and leadership career decisions from Flavia Mercado, MD, Emory Medical School, Atlanta, Georgia, faculty member and Nellie Correa, MD, New York physician in private practice.  Residents interested in public service or academic leadership careers will be trained on federal and State policies, decision-making for leadership careers, and meet new role models and key leaders in medicine. Institute in NYC June 10-12 and in Sacramento, California August 2012.  We are planning resident and medical student networking events on the Monday evening at both meetings.

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
 
NEW Corporate Membership Category for the NHMA. Join and be eligible to bring in unlimited members to the organization. We need to work with more partners to advance healthcare to our Hispanic communities.
 
Also New MENTORSHIP PROGRAM for NHMA members -  students with residents and residents with physicians. More information coming soon.
 
NHMA BOARD REQUESTS - especially NHMA Leadership Fellows and Residents Alumni--- in joining the Board of Directors Committees: Policy, Development, Communications, Membership, Program and the new REGIONAL STEERING COMMITTEES for the NORTHEAST and WEST REGION - if interested, let Sara Classen know at (202) 628-5895.
 
 Members on the move .....

Jorge Girotti, PhD, Associate Dean at the University of Illinois Chicago addressed the LMSA Midwest Region Conference
 
Kathy Flores, MD, Chairwoman of the NHMA Board of Directors addressed the LMSA West Region Conference
 
Flavia Mercado, MD was interviewed by the Washington, DC Radio Show on Women’s Health prevention topics
 
Nathalie Manzano, MPA, NHHF Executive Director represents NHMA at the National Hepatitis Awareness Day for Latinos on stage with the Latino Aids Commission
 
Dr. Rios spoke to the Hispanics for Corporate Responsibility on Hispanic Inclusion in the public and private sectors leadership and what our national organizations are doing to change that. Rios joined CEOs of the New America Alliance and the National Society of Hispanic Engineers
 
Dr. Rios participated as a member of the Executive Secretariat, Steering Committee and Policy Committee at the Commission to End Healthcare Disparities with the AMA, NMA and 30 other national medical organizations…Dr. David Satcher was the keynote speaker addressing mental health issues for disparities projects
 
Dr. Rios received a Politic365 Game Changer 2012 Award from this new minority advocacy group – see interview about being a game changer in health care for our minority communities:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8cU5py0kBs
 
 
JOIN TODAY AS AN NHMA MEMBER– www.nhmamd.org or call Sara Classen, Program and Membership Officer at 202.628.5895.
 
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
2012 Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit, October 31- November 3  – Hosted by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIHMD) at the National Institutes of Health around integrating science, policy, and practice, and offers a forum to advance scholarship and translate new knowledge into action.
 
Abstracts accepted until June 15, 2012 5:00 pm ET
 
See http://www.nimhd.nih.gov/summit_site/abstracts
 
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