Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2012

Bill: 112-s-2474
Sponsor: Sen. Akaka, Daniel K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2012-04-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Accidents
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Advisory bodies
Air quality
Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
Allied health services
Birth defects
Cancer
Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Caribbean area
Child health
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Computers and information technology
Congressional oversight
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Dental care
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Veterans Affairs
Digestive and metabolic diseases
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Education programs funding
Educational technology and distance education
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental health
Environmental regulatory procedures
Executive agency funding and structure
Family planning and birth control
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Foreign language and bilingual programs
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government information and archives
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Gulf of Mexico
HIV/AIDS
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health facilities and institutions
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Hereditary and development disorders
Home and outpatient care
Immigrant health and welfare
Indian social and development programs
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Marriage and family status
Marshall Islands
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical research
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Medicare
Mental health
Micronesia
Minority education
Minority health
Nutrition and diet
Oceania
Oil and gas
Palau
Poverty and welfare assistance
Puerto Rico
Racial and ethnic relations
Research administration and funding
Right of privacy
Rural conditions and development
Sex and reproductive health
Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination
Sexually transmitted diseases
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Student aid and college costs
Teenage pregnancy
U.S. territories and protectorates
Urban and suburban affairs and development
Veterans' medical care
Water quality
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
Women's health
World health

Summary:
action_date: 2012-04-26
text: 
Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2012 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Social Security Act to expand the collection and analysis of data in programs of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
 
Sets forth provisions to improve cultural competence in federal health care programs and services, including by establishing the Robert T. Matsui Center for Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Health Care.
 
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to engage in activities to improve health workforce diversity, including by: (1) establishing a working group, a technical clearinghouse, and an advisory committee on workforce diversity; (2) awarding grants to academic institutions; (3) establishing a health and health care disparities education program; and (4) providing for scholarships, student loan repayment and loan forgiveness, and research fellowships.
 
Health Empowerment Zone Act of 2012 - Provides for the establishment of health empowerment zones in communities that experience disproportionate disparities in health status and health care.
 
Requires the Secretary to engage in activities to improve the quality of and access to health care, including by expanding access to health care and health care insurance for immigrants, designating centers of excellence at public hospitals and other health systems serving minority patients, increasing Medicaid payments to territories and to Native Hawaiian health centers, and providing for border health grants.
 
Sets forth programs to reduce health disparities affecting minorities and rural residents. Establishes an Office of Minority Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
 
Sets forth provisions to improve health for women and children, including by expanding access to federal programs for immigrant women and children, creating public awareness campaigns, engaging in activities to eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes, and establishing programs to reduce teenage pregnancies, including contraception education and information programs and programs to support healthy adolescent development.
 
Directs the Secretary to develop a multisite gestational diabetes research project within the diabetes program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
 
Provides for community mental health and addiction services to be offered through federally-qualified behavioral health centers.
 
Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2012 - Requires the Secretary to implement the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Program to achieve a reduction of at least 25% in the mortality rate of lung cancer by 2017.
 
Prostate Research, Outreach, Screening, Testing, Access, and Treatment Effectiveness Act of 2012 or the PROSTATE Act - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to take action to address prostate cancer, including by establishing the Interagency Prostate Cancer Coordination and Education Task Force.
 
Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer Control and Prevention Act of 2012 - Requires the Secretary to implement programs to address hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
 
Bone Marrow Failure Disease Research and Treatment Act of 2012 - Requires the Director of CDC to establish the National Acquired Bone Marrow Failure Disease Registry.
 
Requires the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop guidelines to screen minority patient populations which have a higher than average risk for many chronic diseases and cancers. 
 
Establishes a program for participation by Medicaid beneficiaries in approved clinical trials. 
 
Requires the Secretary to carry out activities to expand the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative.
 
National Black Clergy for the Elimination of HIV/AIDS Act of 2012 - Provides for a program of grants to public health agencies and faith-based organizations to address HIV/AIDS in the African-American community.
 
Justice for the Unprotected Against Sexually Transmitted Infections among the Confined and Exposed Act or the JUSTICE Act - Permits community organizations to distribute sexual barrier protection devices (e.g., condoms) and to engage in sexually transmitted infection counseling and prevention education in federal correctional facilities.
 
Stop AIDS in Prison Act of 2012 - Requires the Bureau of Prisons to develop a comprehensive policy to provide HIV testing, treatment, and prevention for inmates.
 
Minority Diabetes Initiative Act - Requires the Secretary to award grants to provide treatment for diabetes in minority communities and to conduct and support research and other activities with respect to diabetes in minority populations.
 
Directs the Secretary to conduct research and other activities for the prevention of lung diseases, including asthma, pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.
 
Sets forth provisions regarding the use of health information technology to reduce health disparities, particularly in racial and ethnic minority communities.
 
Prohibits discrimination in federal health care programs or research activities.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish the Office of Health Disparities in the Office for Civil Rights and to establish civil rights compliance offices in each HHS agency that administers health programs.
 
Directs the President to enforce Executive Order 12898 (requiring federal actions to address environmental justice in minority and low-income populations) as federal law.
 
Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish in the Department of Agriculture (USDA) a Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
 
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study the type and scope of health care services provided to racial and ethnic minorities affected by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling unit on April 20, 2010.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-04-26
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2012-04-26
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2830-2831)
action_date: 2012-04-26
text: Introduced in Senate