by Virginia Torres
Dr. William Vega
Twenty-seven percent of Hispanic adults living in the United States have no health care providers and 83 percent of them obtain answers to medical questions from the media, according to a report released Aug.12 by the Pew Hispanic Center and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The study indicates that although Hispanics are a young and healthy population, they are more susceptible to serious health conditions like obesity and diabetes.
During an Aug. 13 briefing on the 78-page report at the National Press Club, William Vega, professor of medicine at UCLA Medical School, said that cultural and adaptation challenges are among the main reasons Hispanics lack health care providers.
“The study really points out where the Jagged edges are,” Vega said. “Three-fourths of the Latino population is composed of immigrants and the children of immigrants. They need health care access regularly. They Jagged edges are,” Vega said. “Three-fourths of the Latino population is composed of immigrants and the children of immigrants. They need health care access regularly. They need people they can count on.”
Groups less likely to have health care providers are men, young adults, the less educated and those who do not have health insurance.
Luncheon speaker Elena Rios, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association, suggested several strategies to improve health care access, including changing the media’s approach so that it focuses on a younger audience (30 years old or less). She also suggested hiring Latino staff who have connections to the community, making health insurance more universal and affordable, and to start educating the Hispanic community at a younger age.
Elena Ríos
“We have to transform the way we think in terms of health,” Rios said. Ríos commented that while there has been greater support in Congress for several bills that have been introduced, problems remain in gaining more backing from the leadership in the Senate.
As far as the way Senators Obama and McCain are dealing with the health care problem, Rios said “McCain is a little less friendly toward the low-income population, while Obama does have specifics, especially in prevention, obesity and diabetes.”
For further information, visit http://:pewhispanic.or9/reports/report.php?ReportlD=91.
In other news:
IMMIGRATION: 25 bills and 33 Amendments, but once again, THE BIG ONE got away
by Alonso Yáñez
Although the second session of the 110th U.S. Congress has adjourned until September for its summer vacation, many topics important to the Latino community have still not been resolved.
Among the most prominent unaddressed issues by Congress during this session are a comprehensive immigration reform bill, the DREAM Act and stabilizing the agricultural workforce. Before the Senate stopped debating a comprehensive immigration bill, there were 33 amendments to its first version (SB1348), and six to the last one (SB1 639).
What happened:
Comprehensive immigration reform: Weeks of negotiations between various senators and the White House produced the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act (SB1348), which provides more resources for border, interior and worksite enforcement and establishes a temporary worker program. After many amendments, the bill was re-introduced June 18 as SB. 1639 but was filibustered by Jim DeMint (R-SC), Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and David Vitter (R-LA). There was a vote to end the filibuster on June 28, but the motion to invoke cloture failed by a vote of 48 to 53, and the Senate moved on to other business.
DREAM ACT: The Development, Relief and Education for Minors Act (SB. 774), which provided in-state tuition to resident undocumented graduates of the state’s public schools, was introduced March 6,2007.After the bill was blocked twice by Republicans, the Senate considered the DREAM Act on Oct.24 (re-introduced as SB.2205), but was filibustered by Republicans. A procedural vote failed to gain support of 60 Senators to stop the filibuster and the Senate moved on to other business.
Stabilizing agricultural workforce: Since more than 50°/O of the agricultural workforce in the nation is undocumented, addressing immigration in this sector is cruciak The Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act (AgJOBS) or SB. 340, which put undocumented immigrant farm workers on a path to legalization, was introduced by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho). The bill was included in the comprehensive immigration reform bill that was filibustered in the Senate in June 2007. Hispanic Link.
