The Affordable Care Act (ACA) dramatically changed the private insurance landscape, providing health coverage for millions. The success of the ACA and efforts to build on it show that strategic policy interventions can significantly improve health coverage affordability, particularly for communities that struggle the most with access. However, to fully realize the ACA’s potential and…
The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) submitted this comment letter in response to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Interim Final Rule “Additional Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. … We are writing to express our deep concern about several provisions of this IFR. In…
By 2065, the number of immigrants is expected to nearly double to 78 million, when one in three Americans will be an immigrant or have immigrant parents. Migration patterns will lead to change and Asians will overtake Hispanics as the largest incoming immigrant population in the country by 2065.
On behalf of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF), I write to urge the Energy & Commerce Committee to fully fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Community Health Centers (CHC) for five years, without using the Prevention and Public Health Fund as an offset. These programs are critical to the…
Dear Chairman Cochran and Vice-Chair Leahy: We are writing to expressed our deep concern that funding for the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program has been eliminated in the Senate Fiscal Year 2018 Health and Human Services appropriations bill. For nearly 20 years, REACH grantees have worked to improve public health and…
This brief discusses the importance of integrating community based organizations (CBOs) into health care delivery systems. It describes the challenges facing hospitals, providers, and CBOs in assisting limited English proficient (LEP) individuals. It also provides a description of community health workers and their role in the healthcare delivery system and current funding models to support…
Cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AAs and NHPIs). AAs and NHPIs experience higher rates of cancer than other racial groups. In addition, they continue to experience the lowest screening rates and are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer at a localized stage. Some of…
The federal White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is asking for public comments on potential revisions to its 1997 standards for collecting and reporting race and ethnicity data. Federal agencies are required to follow these standards. Currently, federal agencies are not required to count detailed data for Asian American (AA), Native Hawaiian (NH),…
Childhood obesity and overweight have been linked to a host of health, behavioral, and psychological problems. They include: chronic health conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and asthma (1-4), developmental problems such as low self-esteem, becoming victims or perpetrators of bullying or other disruptive behaviors, and performing poorly academically (5-13). Children who are obese or…
In 2015, APIAHF received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to implement the Data Equity Project. This project sought to address: (1) the underutilization of national health data and (2) the limited efforts by federal and state agencies to promote higher quality data collection, analysis, reporting, and dissemination of AA and NHPI health…
