The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is including lesbian and bisexual women as a special population in the Women’s Health USA 2011 report for the first time ever. This annual data book identifies priorities, trends, and disparities in women’s health. “Women’s Health USA provides the public with a valuable resource for describing the status of women's health throughout the nation,” said HRSA Administrator Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. “By highlighting critical health issues affecting women, this volume draws attention to age, income and race and ethnic disparities in women’s health.”
The report acknowledges that the unique status and health needs of lesbians and bisexual women are shaped by sexual identity and behavior, as well as traditional factors like age, education, race, and ethnicity. The report suggests that lesbian and bisexual women are at increased risk for adverse health outcomes, including being overweight and obesity, poor mental health, substance abuse, violence, and barriers to accessing health care due to social and economic inequities. For example, lesbians reported receiving an annual gynecological check-up at half the rate of straight women despite reporting the same level of insurance coverage. Lesbians and bisexual women are also twice as likely to report smoking and binge drinking as opposed to their straight counterparts.
As a recent Institute of Medicine Report concluded, more data is needed to adequately identify and address the unique health needs and disparities in the LGBT population as a whole. HRC supports the development of this much needed data. HRC also recognizes that bias on the part of health care providers and fear of discrimination can intensify these health disparities and outcomes. Through HRC’s Healthcare Equality Index, we are working to improve this landscape and empower LGBT individuals to demand equal, quality health care.
Reposted at http://keystothecloset.blogspot.com
Posted at HRC blog at http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/federal-report-shows-stark-health-disparities-in-lesbian-and-bisexual-women?utm_source=Convio&utm_medium=email&utm_term=News-link-3&utm_campaign=HRCnews-November-2011
Showing posts with label HRSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HRSA. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Medicare steps up enforcement of equal visitation and representation rights in hospitals
Rules finalized last year empower patients to designate their own visitors, including same-sex partners
Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new guidance to support enforcement of rules that protect hospital patients’ right to choose their own visitors during a hospital stay, including a visitor who is a same-sex domestic partner. These rules, finalized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in November, apply to all hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The guidance also supports enforcement of the right of patients to designate the person of their choice, including a same-sex partner, to make medical decisions on their behalf should they become incapacitated.
"Couples take a vow to be with each other in sickness and in health and it is unacceptable that, in the past, some same-sex partners were denied the right to visit their loved ones in times of need," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "We are releasing guidance for enforcing new rules that give all patients, including those with same-sex partners, the right to choose who can visit them in the hospital as well as enhancing existing guidance regarding the right to choose who will help make medical decisions on their behalf.”
The rules updated the Conditions of Participation (CoPs), which are the health and safety standards all Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals and critical access hospitals must meet, and apply to all patients of those hospitals even if they are not on Medicare or Medicaid. Among other things, the CoPs require hospitals to explain to all patients their right to choose who may visit them during their inpatient stay, regardless of whether the visitor is a family member, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a same-sex domestic partner), or another type of visitor, as well as their right to withdraw such consent to visitation at any time.
Existing CoPs also protect the rights of hospital patients to have representatives who can act on their behalf. HHS has updated the guidance for these rules to emphasize that hospitals should give deference to patients’ wishes concerning their representatives, whether expressed in writing, orally, or through other evidence, unless prohibited by state law. The guidance issued today is intended to make it easier for family members, including a same-sex domestic partner, to make informed care decisions for loved ones who have become incapacitated.
CMS today sent a letter to State Survey Agencies, which conduct on-site inspections of hospitals on behalf of CMS. The letter highlights the equal visitation and representation rights requirements and directs SSAs to be aware of the guidance when evaluating hospitals' compliance with CoPs.
“This announcement is another step toward equal rights for all Americans, and it is another step toward putting the patient at the center of our health care system,” said CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick, M.D. “All patients should be afforded the same rights and privileges when they enter our health care system, and that includes the same opportunity to see their significant other.”
In other news of interest to the LGBT community, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), another agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, today announced a $248,000 grant to the Fenway Institute** to create a National Training and Technical Assistance Center to help community health centers improve the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations.
For more information on the CMS rules issued in November, please visit: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/11/20101117a.html
For the letter sent to State Survey Agencies, please visit: http://www.cms.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/PMSR/list.asp#TopOfPage.
Posted by The National Task Force. Reposted at keystothecloset@blogspot.com
Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new guidance to support enforcement of rules that protect hospital patients’ right to choose their own visitors during a hospital stay, including a visitor who is a same-sex domestic partner. These rules, finalized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in November, apply to all hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The guidance also supports enforcement of the right of patients to designate the person of their choice, including a same-sex partner, to make medical decisions on their behalf should they become incapacitated.
"Couples take a vow to be with each other in sickness and in health and it is unacceptable that, in the past, some same-sex partners were denied the right to visit their loved ones in times of need," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "We are releasing guidance for enforcing new rules that give all patients, including those with same-sex partners, the right to choose who can visit them in the hospital as well as enhancing existing guidance regarding the right to choose who will help make medical decisions on their behalf.”
The rules updated the Conditions of Participation (CoPs), which are the health and safety standards all Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals and critical access hospitals must meet, and apply to all patients of those hospitals even if they are not on Medicare or Medicaid. Among other things, the CoPs require hospitals to explain to all patients their right to choose who may visit them during their inpatient stay, regardless of whether the visitor is a family member, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a same-sex domestic partner), or another type of visitor, as well as their right to withdraw such consent to visitation at any time.
Existing CoPs also protect the rights of hospital patients to have representatives who can act on their behalf. HHS has updated the guidance for these rules to emphasize that hospitals should give deference to patients’ wishes concerning their representatives, whether expressed in writing, orally, or through other evidence, unless prohibited by state law. The guidance issued today is intended to make it easier for family members, including a same-sex domestic partner, to make informed care decisions for loved ones who have become incapacitated.
CMS today sent a letter to State Survey Agencies, which conduct on-site inspections of hospitals on behalf of CMS. The letter highlights the equal visitation and representation rights requirements and directs SSAs to be aware of the guidance when evaluating hospitals' compliance with CoPs.
“This announcement is another step toward equal rights for all Americans, and it is another step toward putting the patient at the center of our health care system,” said CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick, M.D. “All patients should be afforded the same rights and privileges when they enter our health care system, and that includes the same opportunity to see their significant other.”
In other news of interest to the LGBT community, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), another agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, today announced a $248,000 grant to the Fenway Institute** to create a National Training and Technical Assistance Center to help community health centers improve the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populations.
For more information on the CMS rules issued in November, please visit: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/11/20101117a.html
For the letter sent to State Survey Agencies, please visit: http://www.cms.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/PMSR/list.asp#TopOfPage.
Posted by The National Task Force. Reposted at keystothecloset@blogspot.com
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