110th Congress

Minority Health

S. 1576/H.R. 3333

Background

Racial disparities in health status and access to health care are a continuing public health concern. During the 106th Congress, Congress passed the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000. This legislation elevated the Office of Research on Minority Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to Center status, establishing the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) to 1) coordinate the health disparities research performed or supported by NIH, 2) support a grant program through the new Center to further biomedical and behavioral research education and training, 3) support an endowment program to facilitate minority and other health disparities research at centers of excellence, and 4) administer a loan repayment program to train members of minority or other health disparities populations as biomedical research professionals.

The general purpose of NCMHD is to conduct and support research, training, dissemination of information, and other program activities with respect to minority health conditions and other populations with health disparities. The Director of NCMHD is deemed the primary Federal official responsible for coordinating all minority health disparities research and other health disparities research conducted or supported by NIH, representing the NIH health disparities research program on relevant task forces and committees, and maintaining communications with all relevant Public Health Service agencies to ensure the timely transmission of information concerning advances in health disparities research to affected communities and health care providers.

In the 110th Congress, Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) introduced S. 1576, the Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act, on June 7, 2007. On August 2, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) introduced the companion measure, H.R. 3333.

Provisions of the Legislation/Impact on NIH

The legislation would reauthorize NCMHD and would require the Director of NCMHD, in consultation with the other NIH Institute and Center (IC) Directors, IC advisory councils, and NCMHD Advisory Council, to plan, coordinate, and evaluate research and other activities related to minority health and health disparities conducted or supported by the NIH ICs and to provide for the timely periodic reevaluation of these activities. The legislation also contains the following provisions:

• Coordination of Activities: The Director of NCMHD, in addition to being the primary Federal official for coordinating all minority health disparities research, would be required to undertake research to refine and develop the conceptual, definitional, and methodological issues involved in health disparities research and to further the understanding of the causes of disparities.
• Coordination of Activities With Community-Based Organizations: The Director of NCMHD would be required to engage with community-based organizations and health provider groups, led by and serving racial and ethnic minorities, to 1) increase education and awareness of NCMHD’s activities and 2) accelerate the translation of research findings into community-based programs.
• Comprehensive Plan for Budget Research: The Director of NCMHD, in consultation with the Director of NIH, the other IC Directors, and the NCMHD Advisory Council, would be required to annually review and revise a comprehensive plan and budget for the conduct and support of all NIH minority health disparities research activities (current law requires collaboration among the Director of NIH, the Director of NCMHD, and the other IC Directors). The plan would be required to include time-based, targeted objectives with measurable outcomes and ensure that the annual review and revision of the plan uses an established trans-NIH process subject to timely review, approval, and dissemination.
  The Director of NCMHD would also be required to create and implement a plan for the systemic review of research activities being supported by NIH within the mission of NCMHD and establishing mechanisms for 1) tracking minority health and health disparities research and appropriateness of the research with regard to the overall goals of the budget plan, 2) early identification of proposals and applications supporting extramural training, research, and development submitted to the ICs that are within the mission of the Center, 3) providing NCMHD with the written descriptions and scientific peer-review results of such applications and proposals, 4) enabling agencies to consult with the Director of NCMHD before the final approval of such applications and proposals, and 5) reporting to the Director of NCMHD all such applications and proposals that are approved for funding by the Center.
• Allocation of Appropriations for NIH Funding for Health Disparities Research: The Director of NCMHD would be required to direct all amounts appropriated for minority health and health disparities research activities in collaboration with the Director of NIH and the other IC Directors.
  All the amounts allocated or expended for minority health and health disparities research activities would be required to be reported programmatically to and approved by the Director of NCMHD in accordance with the comprehensive plan developed by the Director.
• New Provisions: A new provision would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with the Director of NCMHD, to determine the representation of ethnic and racial minorities as senior physicians and scientists both at NIH and among its grantees and to carry out activities to increase such representation.
  Another new provision would require the Secretary, in collaboration with the Director of NCMHD, to designate and support within a cancer center at a historically black college a cancer prevention, control, and population science center to address the significantly elevated morbidity and mortality from cancer in racial and ethnic minority populations.
• Genetic Variation, Environment and Health Summit: The Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, in collaboration with the Director of the Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Minority Health, would be required to convene a summit for the purpose of providing leadership on current and future areas of focus for genomics research relating to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations and reducing health disparities.

Status and Outlook

S. 1576 was introduced by Senator Kennedy on June 7, 2007, and was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. No further action has occurred on this legislation.

H.R. 3333 was introduced by Representative Jackson on August 2, 2007, and was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. No further action has occurred on this legislation.

April 2008