Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act

Bill: 109-s-1580
Sponsor: Sen. Akaka, Daniel K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2005-07-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Accident prevention
Agricultural labor
Agriculture and Food
Alaska
Asthma
Authorization
Autoimmune diseases
Block grants
Boundaries
Cancer
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Child health
Child nutrition
Chronically ill
Citizen participation
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Communication in medicine
Community health services
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Data banks
Dental care
Department of Health and Human Services
Diabetes
Discrimination in medical care
Drug abuse
Drug abuse treatment
Drug approvals
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Education of the disadvantaged
Educational statistics
Elementary and secondary education
English language
Environmental Protection
Environmental health
Environmental justice
Environmental research
Epidemiology
Evaluation research (Social action programs)
Executive reorganization
Families
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to Indians
Federal aid to child health services
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to health facilities
Federally-guaranteed loans
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Finance and Financial Sector
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Foundations
Genetic research
Genetics
Government Operations and Politics
Government contractors
Government publicity
Gynecology
Hawaiians
Health education
Health insurance
Health insurance continuation
Health surveys
Higher education
Hispanic Americans
Homeless
Housing and Community Development
Immigrant health
Immigration
Indian medical care
Indigenous peoples
International Affairs
Labor and Employment
Latin America
Lifestyle
Maternal health services
Medicaid
Medical economics
Medical education
Medical personnel
Medical research
Medical screening
Medical statistics
Medically uninsured
Medicare
Mental health services
Mexico
Migrant labor
Minimum wages
Minorities
Minorities in medicine
Minority health
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Nonprofit organizations
Obesity
Pacific Islanders
Performance measurement
Physical education and training
Pluralism (Social sciences)
Poor children
Prejudice
Preventive medicine
Public health personnel
Public service advertising
Quality of care
Research centers
Rural health
Scholarships
School health programs
Science, Technology, Communications
Sexually transmitted diseases
Social Welfare
Social work
Sports and Recreation
Strategic planning
Student loan funds
Teacher education
Telemedicine
Territories (U.S.)
Tuberculosis
Wages
Women
Women's health
World health

Summary:
action_date: 2005-07-29
text: 
Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act - FamilyCare Act of 2005 - Renames title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act as the FamilyCare Program and extends coverage to certain low-income adults. 
 
Establishes the National Commission for Expanded Access to Health Care.
 
Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide limited English proficient individuals with improved access to health care, including by establishing the Center for Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Healthcare.
 
Provides for activities regarding: (1) health workforce diversity; (2) disparities in health and health care experienced by indigenous, racial, and ethnic minorities; and (3) data collection, analysis, and reporting by race, ethnicity, and primary language.
 
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish: (1) the Office of Health Disparities within the Office of Civil Rights to prevent discrimination in federal programs; and (2) the Office of Minority Affairs within the Office of the Commissioner of Food and Drugs. 
 
Restablishes the Indian Health Service as an agency of the Public Health Service to be administered by an Assistant Secretary of Indian Health.
 
Minority Health and Genomics Act of 2005 - Establishes the Minority Health and Genomics Commission to study issues relating to genomics research as applied to minority groups.
 
Establishes the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice and the Federal Environmental Justice Advisory Committee.
 
Sets forth programs designed to improve the quality of and access to health care for minorities, including by establishing the Health Safety Net Infrastructure Trust Fund.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) the Annie Dodge Wauneka and Susan Laflesche-Picotte Native American Health and Wellness Foundation; and (2) a Joint Working Group on Telehealth.
 
Authorizes integrative eldercare, American Indian and Alaska Native, and oral health telehealth demonstration projects.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-02-10
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1070)
action_date: 2005-07-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2005-07-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9498-9499)
action_date: 2005-07-29
text: Introduced in Senate